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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVlicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/commissionmunicOOrobbrich 


DEBATERS'  HANDBOOK  SERIES 


COMMISSION  PLAN  of  MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT 


Debater s'    Handbook    Series 


SELECTED  ARTICLES 


ON  THE 


COMMISSION  PLAN 
OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


COMPILED  BY 
E.    CLYDE   ROBBINS 


Of   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

MINNEAPOLIS 
THE  H.  W.  WILSON  COMPANY 

1909 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE 

There  is  no  denying  the  increasing  interest  in  the  commission 
plan  of  city  government.  The  material  contained  in  thib  book 
has  been  collected  and  arranged  especially  for  debaters,  stu- 
dents, and  members  of  clubs  and  organizations  that  are  every- 
where studying  this  new  form  of  municipal  organization. 

The  volume  includes  the  best  available  reprints  on  the 
question.  All  articles  have  been  edited  and  revised  so  as  to 
avoid   useless    repetition. 

It  has  been  thought  best  to  follow  an  orderly  arrangement 
in  the  preparation  of  the  book.  The  plan  used  is  simple  and 
direct.  The  first  section,  as  noted  ii"^  the  contents,  is  the  intro- 
duction. This  deals  briefly  with  the  general  municipal  situa- 
tion, and  leads  up  to  the  commission  plan.  That  part  of  the 
book  called  general  discussion  consists  of  a  series  of  articles 
explaining  the  relationship  of  the  commission  plan  to  other 
important  municipal  problems.  Following  this,  are  the  af- 
tirmative  and  negative  discussions,  respectively.  A  page  of  data 
concerning  the  commission  plan,  compiled  especially  for  this 
volume,  will  be  found  of  value  to  the  student.  Between  the 
contents  and  the  introduction  will  be  found  a  brief  of  the 
question :  also  a  bibliography,  so  complete  as  to  include  all 
important  material,  and  so  arranged  as  to  let  the  investigator 
at  once  know  the  value  of  each  reference.  It  is  believed  that 
p.  book  arranged  in  this  manner  will  be  of  real  service  to  the 
debater  and  to  others  studying  the  problem.  Libraries  that  do 
not  contain  a  cornplete  file  of  magazines,  pamphlets,  and  late 
municipal  books,  will  find  this  volume  an  inexpensive  yet  prac- 
tical method  of  supplying  the  demand  for  material  on  the  com- 
mission question. 


20408 


CONTENTS 


Brief 

Introduction 
Affirmative  . 
Negative    . . . 


Bibliography 

General  References   5 

Affirmative  References 7 

Xeorative  References  12 


Introduction 


General  Discussion 

Rowe,    Prof.    L.    S.'     Problems    in   Good   City   Government      21 

Howe,  William  W.    Mmiicipal  History  of  New  Orleans 

Johns   Hopkins 

University   Studies    in    Historical   and    Political    Science      27 

Robbins,  E.  Clyde.  State  Administration  and  the  Commis- 
sion   Plan 29 

Munro,  William  Bennett.  Galveston  Plan  of  City  Govern- 
ment  National  Municipal  League,  Proceedings,  1907      40 

Shambaugh,  Benjamin  F.  Des  Moines  Plan  of  City  Gov- 
ernment   Ameri- 
can   Political    Science    Association.     Proceedings,     1907       51 

Affirmative  Discussion 

Berryhill,  James  A.     Commission  Government :   A  General 

Statement   55 

Sherman,  E.  R.     Commends  Commission  Plan 

Cedar   Rapids   Evening  Gazette       58 

Huston,  Charles  D.     Commission  Plan  in  Cedar  Rapids.... 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette*     61 

Cost  of  Commission  Plan Cedar  Rapids  Republican      66 


viii  CONTENTS 

Interest  in  the  Commission  Plan.. Cedar  Rapids  Republican  66 

Whitlock,  Brand.     Spread  of  the  Galveston  Plan Circle  68 

Cheesborough,   Edmund   R.     Galveston's    Commission    Plan 

Citizen's  Bulletin   (Cincinnati)  T2 

Des  Moines  Plan  a  Great  Success 

Citizen's  Bulletin  (Cincinnati)  74 

Commission  Government. ..  .Citizen's  Bulletin   (Cincinnati)  "/^ 
Bradford,  Ernest  S.     Commission  Plan:  What  it  Means.. 

Citizen's  Bulletin   (Cincinnati)  76 

Des  Moines  Plan :  Questions  and  Answers 

City   Hall    (Des   Moines)  81 

State  Experts  Like  Plan Daily  Capital  (Des  Moines)  84 

Cost  of  Des  Moines  Plan Des  Moines  Evening  Tribune  87 

Galveston  City  Election.  .Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader  91 

Plan  Not  at  Fault Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader  92 

Finty,  Tom.     Commission  Plan  in  Texas.  .Galveston  News  93 

Sampson.   Henry  E.     Des   Moines   Plan 

Midwestern  (Des  Moines)  99 

Commission  Plan Oskaloosa   (Iowa)    Daily  Herald  loi 

National  View  of  the  Des  Moines  Plan 

Washington   (D.  C.)  Times  lor 

Sampson,  Henry  E.     Year  under  the  Des  Moines  Plan.... 

Wealth    (Des    Moines)  no 

Negative  Discussion 

Chadwick,  Rear  Admiral  F.  E.  Newport  Charter 

American  Political  Science  Association,  Proceedings.  1906  1 13 

Herriott,  Prof.  F.  I.     Defects  of  Commission  Plan 120 

Holly,  Charles  O.  Defects  of  the  Des  Moines  Plan 123 

Starzinger,  Vincent.     City  not  a  Business   Corporation....  124 
Starzinger,  Vincent.     Commission :    Not  a   Superior  Legis- 
lative Body 124 

Starzinger,  Vincent.     Superior  Legislation 125 

Some  Fundamental  Political   Principles  Applied  to  Munic- 
ipal Government Texas  Bulletin   (University  of)  127 

Webster,  Walter  A.     Commission  is  an  Oligarchy 130 

Webster,  Walter  A.     Government  by  Commission 134 


CONTENTS  ix 

White,  Clinton  L.     Failure  of  Commission  Plan 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Times     137 

Palda,  J.  R.  Commission  Plan, , ,  .Cedar  Rapids  Republican  138 
Municipal  Government  by  Commission 

City  Hall  ( Des  Moines )     143 

Municipal  Government  by  Commission 

Iowa  Unionist  (Des  Moines)     145 

Wise,  W.  W.  Des  Moines  Plan.  .Midwestern  (Des  Moines)  147 
City  Council  Needed  No  Less  than  a  Mayor 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines )     150 

Jordan,  W.   N.     Some  Facts  and  Figures 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines)     151 

Municipal  Reforms  Needed Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines)     160 

Dominant  Mayor  Essential  in  Good  City  Government 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines)     162 

Commission  System  and  Non-Partizan  Government 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines)     165 

Facts  Concernixg  Commission  Plan  167^ 


^     OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


SELECTED  ARTICLES 

ON  THE 

COMMISSION  PLAN  OF  MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT 


BRIEF^ 

Introduction 

I.     Only  evils  arising  from  the  form  of  city  government  which 
separates  the  legislative  and   executive  powers  will  be 
considered. 
II.     That  these  evils  are  recognized  is  shown  by  the  present 
tendency  toward  the  concentration  of  powers. 

III.  This    plan   has    generally   failed   where   the   concentration 

has  been  but  partial. 
A.     New    York    City    concentrated    executive    power    and 

retained  a  weak  council. 
1»      The  city  of  Boston  has  a  similar  plan. 

IV.  Naturally    both   of   these   cities   are   now   considering   the 

advisability  of   adopting  the  commission   form. 
V.     Numbers  of  other  cities  are  moving  in  the  same  direction 

and  many  have  adopted  the  plan. 
VI.     While  the  isolated  legislative  body  is  needed  in  state  and 
national  governments,   there  are   many  peculiar  condi- 
tions in  the  city  which  make  it  unessential. 

A.  The  city  is  not  a  sovereign  body. 

B.  The  work  is  largely  administrative. 

C.  The  territory  is  small. 


2  COMMISSION  PLAN   OF 

VII.     The  isolated  council  has   failed  in  city  government   since 
A.     In  practice  legislative  and  administrative  work  cannot 
be  separated. 

1.  In   some  cities  the   mayor   dominates   in   both    the 

administrative  and  legislative  work. 

2.  In  others  the  comicil  dominates  in  both. 

IX.  This  tendency  to  concentrate  with  a  fixing  of  powers 
points  to  a  commission  form  of  government  as  the 
proper  form. 

Brief  Proper — Affirmative 
I.     American  cities  should  adopt  a  commission  form  of  gov- 
ernment because  it  is  desirable  for 

A.  It  fixes  responsibility  in  administration  for 

I.  Each  commissioner  is  held  responsible  for  the 
efficient  conduct  of  a  specific  department  of  city 
administration. 

B.  It  fixes  responsibility  in  legislation   for 

1.  The  legislative  body  is  small. 

2.  Each  legislator  is  intelligently  informed  as  to  the 

city's  needs. 
II.     The  commission  form  provides  a  most  efficient  legislative 
body  in  the  commission  council  for 

A.  The   legislative   and   administrative   work   of    the   city 

are  properly  and  unalterably  connected. 

B.  The  councilmen  have  a  direct  and  technical  knovvledge 

of  city  affairs. 

C.  The  councilmen  represent  the  whole  city. 

T^I.  The  commission  form  provides  a  most  efficient  administra- 
tive body  for 

A.  It  secures  dispatch  in  business. 

B.  It  stimulates  civic  interest. 

C.  It   secures  economy. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  3 

Brief  Proper — Negative 

I.  American  cities  should  not  adopt  a  commission  form,  for 

it   does   not   provide   a    proper   correlation    of    depart- 
ments for 
A.     Success  in  city  government  depends  upon  such  corre- 
lation, for 

1.  The  cabinet  form,  successful  in  Europe  and  Can- 

ada, provides  such  a  correlation. 

2.  The  mayor  and  council  form  have  succeeded  with 

such  a  correlation. 

3.  The   program   of   the   National    Municipal    League 

demands   such  a  correlation   for  a  practical  city 
government. 

II.  The  proper  remedy  for  existing  evils  lies  not  in  a  change 

of  form,  but  in  a  removal  of  causes,  for 

A.  A  removal  of  bad  social  and  economic  conditions  has 

secured  successful  city  government. 

B.  The  introduction   of  bad   social   and   economic  condi- 

tions has  secured  a  like  result. 

C.  Greater  local  self-government  has  been  a  strong  factor 

in  securing  similar  results. 

*A  detailed  brief  of  both  sides  of  the  question  with  para- 
graph references  will  be  sent  to  any  one  upon  request.  Ad- 
dress, Registrar,  State  University  of  Iowa.  (Debating  Bulletin, 
No.  206.) 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


A  star  preceding  a  reference  indicates  that  the  entire  article  or  a  part  of  it 
has  been  reprinted  in  this  volume. 

General  References 
Books  J  Pamphlets 

_  "^American   Political    Science   Association,    Proceedings,    1907.    4: 
189-92.  Des   Moines   Plan  of  City  Government.   Prof.   Benja- 
min F.  Shambaugh,  State  University  of  Iowa. 
O  Bryce,  James.  American  Commonwealth.  Vol.  1.  pp.  662-6. 

City   Commission   Charter  Act :    a   Representative    City  Govern- 
ment.    Published  by  the  City  Club  of  Topeka,  Kan. 
Can  be  obtained  upon  request. 
Commission   Plan :   Debates    between   Universities   of    Iowa   and 

Wis.,  and  Iowa  and  Minn,  with  a  brief  and  a  bibliography. 

$1.00.    Address   Forensic   League,    State   University   of    Iowa, 

Iowa  City,  la. 

Thi.s  is  a  very  fundamental  discussion  of  the  question.  Should 
be  given  to  debatei's  after  they  have  acquired  a  good  knowledge 
of  the  issues.     Libraries  and  coaches  should  purchase. 

O  Des  Moines,  Charter  of. 

Address   City  Clerk,   Des  Moines.     Same   as  Iowa   Session   Laws 
on    Commission    Plan. 
■*  Des  Moines,  First  Annual  Report.  Mr.  31,  '09. 

Can  be  obtained  upon  request.     Address  City  Clerk,  Des  Moines, 
—   Galveston :  Charter,  as  passed  by  the  28th  Legislature,  1903. 

Can   be   obtained  upon  request.     Apply  City  Clerk,   Galveston. 
Q  Goodnow,    Frank    J.    City    Government    in    the    United    States. 

Boards  vs.  Commissioners,  pp.  191-203,  The  Century  Co.,  New 

York,  '04. 

A  good  general   te.xt  book  dealing  with  all  phases  of  municipal 
government. 
O  Houston :  Charter,  as  passed  by  the  29th  Legislature,  1905. 

Can  be  obtained  upon  request.     Apply  City  Clerk  of  Houston, 
df  Iowa  Law  Providing  for  Municipal  Government,  etc.  Published 

by  Order  of  City  Council,  Cedar  Rapids,  Ta.  '08. 

Can  be  obtained  upon  request. 


6  COMMISSION   PLAN   OF 

/_  *Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political 
Science.  7:  155-87.  Ap.  '89.  Municipal  History  of  New  Orleans. 
Wm.  W.  Howe. 
'  "'National  Municipal  League,  Proceedings  of  the  Providence  Con- 
ference for  Good  City  Government,  1907.  Galveston  Plan  of 
City  Government.   William    Bennett   Munro.    pp.    142-55. 

—  *Robbins,   E.   Clyde.   State   Administration   and   the   Commission 

Plan. 
^  *Rowe,  L.   S.  Problems  of  City  Government.   Chap.  VIII.   Also 
Commission  Government,  pp.   198-307.   D.  Appleton  Co.,  New 
York,  '08. 

A  good  general   text  book  dealing  with  all  phases   of  municipal 
government. 

Maga:;ines 
I  —  American     Political    Science    Review,     i  :  621-26.    Ag.    '07.     Des 
Moines  Plan  of  Municipal  Government.  Robert  Argyll  Camp- 
bell. 
/  - —   Arena.  32:  377-91.  O.  '04.  Democracy  and  Municipal  Government. 
B:  O.  Flower. 
I  ^  Arena.    41  :  38-41.    Ja.    '09.    Better    City    Government.    L.    F.    C. 
Garvin. 
Recommended   for  purchase. 

—  Boston  Evening  Transcript.  Ap.  11,  '08.  Commission  Government 

in  Texas.  Albert  Bushnell  Hart. 
Q    Citizens'    Bulletin.    4:     i.    D.    '08.    Public    Utilities    Control    in 
Wisconsin.   Address  by   Dr.   B.   H.    Meyers. 

Delivered    before    meeting    of    National    Municipal    League    and 
American  Civic  association. 

O    City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:265-70.  Ja.  '09.  Des  Moines  Charter. 
Law   in    full   creating   Commission    Plan   in   Iowa. 
(^        *City   Hall    (Des   Moines).    10:272.   Ja.   '09.   Questions   and   An- 
swers concerning  the  Des  Moines  Plan. 
City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:405.  Je.  '09.  Danger  of  Electing  the 
Wrong    Men.    Richard    C.    Dorby.    Answer   by   Commissioner 
Mac  Vicar. 
**"  Educational    Review.    37 :    362-74.    Ap.    '09.    City    Schools    under 

the  Commission  Plan  of  City  Government. 
— -Independent.  58:706-9.  Mr.  30,  '05.  City  Government.  G.  Smith. 
-—    Independent.  62 :  1367.  Je.  6,   07.  One  Man  City  Government. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  7 

Municipality    (Madison,  Wis.)-    S.    '09.   City  Government.   Coin- 
missioner    Ford    H.    MacGregor.    Address   before    League    of 
Wisconsin  Municipalities,  at  Monette,  Wis.  Jl.  21-23,  'o9- 
—  Political  Science  Quarterly.  15:426-51,  675-709.  S.-D.  '00.  Coun- 
cil Government  versus  Mayor  Government.  E:  D.  Durand. 

-Political  Science  Quarterly.  17 :  609-30.   D.   '02.  Referendum  and 

Initiative  in  City  Government.  John  R.  Commons. 
^  Political  Science  Quarterly.  21  :  434-46.   S.  '06.   Municipal  Codes 
in  the  Middle  West.  J.  A.  Fairlie. 


,  Recommended  for  purchase. 

'  Review  of  Reviews.  36 :  623-34.  N.  '07.  Spread  of  Galveston  PI 

of  City  Government. 

Affirmative  References 
Books,  Pamphlets 


■£1 


"Berryhill,  James  G.  Commission  Government.  A  general  state- 
ment prepared  for  the  Commercial  Club  of  Des  Moines. 

Berryhill,  James  G.  Des  Moines  Plan  of  Municipal  Government. 
Read  before  Iowa  State  Bar  Association.  Jl.  9.  '08,  at  Wa- 
terloo,  la. 

City   Government   by    Commission.    Report    of    a    Committee   of 
the  Commercial  Club  of  Peoria,  111.,  on  Commission  Govern- 
ment as  operated  in  Des  Moines. 
Can  be  obtained  upon  request.     Address   Secretary  of  Club. 

Dillon,  Sidney  J.  City  Government  by  Commission.  Address  be- 
fore Economic  Club  of  Boston.  Ja.  21,  '08. 
Can   be   obtained   upon   request.     Address   Secretary   of   Club. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.  City  Government  by  Commission.  Address  be- 
fore Economic  Club  of  Boston,  ja.  it,  '07. 
Can   be   obtained   upon    re»iuest.     Address   Secretary   of   Club. 

Fuller,  O.  M.  Municipal  Government  by  Commission.  Address  be- 
fore Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Erie,  Pa.  Ap.  15,  '09. 
Can  be  obtained  upon  request.     Address  Secretary  of  Chaniuei. 

Head,  James  M.  City  Government  by  Commission.  Address  be- 
fore Economic  Club  of  Boston.  Ja.  11,  '07. 
Can    be   obtained   upon   request.     Address   Secretary   of   Club. 

Houston.  Annual  Reports  of  Mayor  (Message)   and  Reports  of 
City  Officials  of  Houston,  for  years  1905-9. 
Can    be    obtained   upon    request.     Apply    City   Clerk.    Houston. 


8  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

, Illinois.  Senate.  Commission  Government  of  Galveston,  Houston, 

and  Dallas.      Report  made   to  the   Senate   of  Illinois  by  the 
special  sub-committee  appointed  to  investigate. 

^  Can    be    obtained     upon     request.     Apply     Secretary     of     State, 

^       Springfield,    111. 

—  National  Municipal  League,  Proceedings  of  Atlantic  City  Con- 
ference for  Good  City  Government,  1906.  pp.  181-93.  Success 
of  the  Galveston  Experiment.  E.  R.  Cheesborough. 
Libraries   are   recommended   to   purchase    this    report. 

- — *National    Municipal    League,    Proceedings    of    the    Providence 
Conference  for  Good  City  Government,  1907.  pp.  142-55.  Gal- 
veston Plan  of  City  Government.     William  B.  Munro. 
Same  article  as  appears  in  Chautauquan.  51:  110-24.  Je.  '08.     Li- 
braries are  recommended  to  purchase  this  report. 

^.-  National    Municipal    League,    Proceedings    of    Providence    Con- 
ference   for   Good   City   Government,    1909.    pp.    156-65.    Des 
Moines  Plan  of  City  Government.    Silas  B.  Allen. 
Libraries    are   recommended   to   purchase    this   report. 
Niday,  J.  R.  Business  Idea  in  Municipal  Government. 

Can   be   obtained  vipon   request.     Apply   City   Clerli,    Houston. 
— —  Rice,  W.  B.  City  Government  by  Commission.  Address  delivered 
at  Charlotte,  N.  C.      N.  '08. 

Can    be    obtained    upon    request.     Address    Mayor    W.    B.    Rice, 
Houston. 

'"*^  Turner,   George   Kibbe.   City   Government  by   Commission.   Ad- 
dress before  Economic  Club  of  Boston,  Ja.  11,  '07. 
Can   be   obtained   upon   request.     Address    Secretary   of   Club. 

Magazines 

f 
Arena.  38:8-13.  Jl.  '07.  Galveston  and  Houston.  G.  W.  James. 

-    Arena.  38 :  144-9.  Ag-  'o/-  Houston  and  its  City  Commission.  G. 

W.  James. 

Arena.  38:431-2.   O.  '07.  Unguarded  Commission  Government. 

Arena.  38 :  432-6.  O.  '07.  Des  Moines  Plan :  a  Model  of  Guarded 
City  Government. 
■  — -  Broadway   Magazine.    17 :  547-52.    F.   '07.    Municipal   Government 
by  Commission. 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  O.  2,   07.  Commission  Plan  Suc- 
cessful and  Ideal.  Raymond  of  Chicago  Tribune. 
Reprinted  from  Chicago  Tribune. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  9 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  O.  31,  07.  Commission  Plan. 
John  W.  Barry. 

Cedar  Rapids  Gazette.  N.  21,  '07.  Two  Answers  to  Mr.  Palda 
by  Attorney  A.  T.  Cooper  and  A.  H.  Wolf. 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  N.  26,  '07.  Objections  to  the 
Commission  Plan  Answered.  Attorney  Henry  Rickel. 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  N.  29,  '07.  Commission  Plan : 
Once  more.  Veritas. 

*  Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette,  Mr.  25,  '09.  Commends  Commis- 
sion Plan.  Address  by  Commissioner  E.  R.  Sherman  before 
the  Commercial  Club,  Sioux  Falls  (S.  D.),  Mr.  24,  '09. 

*Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  Mr.  31,  '09.  Commission  Plan 
in  Cedar  Rapids.  Chas.  D.  Huston,  Address  of  Commissioner, 
before  Brotherhood  of  Burlington  (la.)  Presbyterian  Church. 
Mr.  30,  '09. 

^  Cedar  Rapids  Republican.  N.  3,  '07.  Editorial :  Cost  of  Commis- 
sion Plan. 

"Cedar  Rapids  Republican.  N.  7,  '07.  Editorial :  Interest  in  the 
Commission  Plan. 

"  Century.  74 :  970.  O.  '07.  Des  Moines  Plan  of  City  Government. 

H.  E.  Sampson, 

'  Chautauquan.    50:    168-70.    Ap.     08.    Municipal    Government    by 

Commission. 
— — '  *Chautauquan.  51:  110-24.  Je.  '08.  Galveston  Plan.  William  Ben- 
nett Munro. 

Same  as  in  article  in  National  Municipal  League,  Proceedings 
of  Providence  Conference  for  Good  City  Government.  1907.  pp. 
142-5").     Recommended   for  purcliase. 

^   -^  *Circle.    2 :  289-90.    N.    '07.    Spread    of    Galveston    Plan.    Brand 
Whitlock. 
<- — *Citizens'    Bulletin    (Cincinnati).   6:1.    Ap.    18,    '08,    Commission 
Plan.     E.  R.  Cheesborough. 
Same  article  in   Galveston  Daily  Nevv.s.   Ap.   '08. 

Citizens'  Bulletin  (Cincinnati).  7:  4.  Ap.  3,  '09.  Editorial:  Com- 
mission Government. 

"Citizens'   Bulletin    (Cincinnati).   7:   7.   Ap.    10,   'a).   Des    Moines 
Plan, 
lleprinted  from  Spiingfield   (Mass.)   Republican. 


10  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

''Citizens'    Bulletin    (Cincinnati).    7:    7.    My.  8,    '09.   Commission 
Government. 
Reprinted  from  Springfield   (Mass.)   Republican. 

Citizens'   Bulletin    (Cincinnati).   7:   7.    My.    15,    '09.   Des    jMoines 

Plan. 

Reprinted   from  World's  Work. 
*Citizens'   Bulletin    (Cincinnati).    7:    1-2.   Jl.   3,   '09.    Commission 

Plan :  What  it  Means.  Ernest  S.  Bradford. 

Reprinted  from  Municipal  Journal. 
City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:  252-7.  Ja.  '09.  Municipal  Government. 

Commissioner  Chas.  D.  Huston  of  Cedar  Rapids. 

Reprinted  from   Bulletin  of  League  of  American   Municipalities, 
Des   Moines. 

City  Hall   (Des  Moines).  10:284-7.  F.  "09.  Commission  Plan  cf 

City  Government. 
City  Hall    (Des   Moines).    10:299-300.   F.  '09.   New   Charter   for 

Jacksonville. 
City*  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:300.  F.  '09.  Commission  System  for 

Chicago.  R.  T.  Crane. 

Reprinted  from  open  letter  in   Chicago   Record  Herald. 
City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:  300-301.  F.  '09.  Texas  Experiments. 

Shearon  Bonner. 

Reprinted   from    Nashville    American. 
City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:316-9.  Mr.  '09.  City  Government  by 

Commission.  Commissioner  John  MacVicar  of  Des  Moines. 
*City  Hall   (Des  Moines).  10:357-9.  Ap.  '09.  Des  Moines  Plan 

followed  by  Questions  and  Answers. 
*City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:376-8.  My.  '09.  National  View  of 

the  Des  Moines  Plan. 

Reprinted   from  Washington    (D.   C.)    Times. 
*Daily   Capital    (Des    Moines);   Ag.    5,   '09.    State    Experts   Like 

Plan. 
*Des  Moines  Evening  Tribune.  Jl.   17,  '09.  Cost  of  Des  Moines 

Plan. 
*Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader.  Je.   i,  '09.  Editorial:  Galves- 
ton City  Election. 
"Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader.  Ag.  10,  '09.  Plan  not  at  Fault. 
*Galveston  News.  Ap.  17,  '09.  Commission  Plan  in  Texas.  Tom 

Finty. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  ii 

/  — —    Gunton's  Magazine.  27 :  559-70.  D.  '04.  Government  of  Municipal- 
ities by  Boards  of  Commissioners.  C.   Arthur  Williams. 
'— — "  Independent.  56:   1382.  Je.   16,  '04.  New  Galveston.  W.  B.  Slos- 
j  son. 

*"""  Independent.  62 :  806-7.  Ap.  4,  '07.  Way  to  Decent  City  Govern- 


3 


3 


/  ment. 
Independent.   63 :    195-200.   Jl.    25,   '07.   Government  by   Commis- 
sion in  Texas.  W.  B.  Slosson. 
Recommended  for  purchase. 
^'    Independent.  64:  1409-10.  Je.  18,   08.  Three  Great  Experiments. 
— —  Independent.   66:    194-5.   Ja.   28,   '09.    Example   of    Haverill.    De 
Mont  Goodyear. 

f La   Follette's  Weekly   Magazine,    i  :    7.    Mr.    27,   '09.    Governing 

Cities  by  Commission.  Don.  E.  Mowry. 

McClure.  27 :  610-20.  O.  '06,  Galveston :  a  Business  Corporation. 

G.  K.  Turner. 
Recommended  for  purchase. 
Midland   MunicipaHties.    16:   77-83.   D.   '08.   Six   Months  of   City 

Government   by   Commission. 
"^Nl  id  western    (Des  Moines).  3:25-37.  Je.  '09.  Des  Moines  Plan. 
Affirmative :    Henry  E.  Sampson ;  Negative :  W.  W.  Wise 
/  — —  Nation.  83 :  322.  O.  18,  '06.   Municipal  Government  by  Commis- 
sion. W.  T.  Arnst. 
. New  England  Magazine,  n.s.  70:  393-7.  Je.  '09.  Municipal  Gov- 
ernment. Charles  W.  Eliot. 
Recommended  for  purchase. 
"Oskaloosa  (la.)  Daily  Herald.  Ap.  6,  '09.  Editorial:  Commission 
Plan. 
—    Outlook.  82:  5.  Ja.  6,  '06.  Concentration  of  Power  in  the  Hands 
of  the  Mayor  at  Houston. 
Outlook.   83 :   54.    My.    12,   '06.    Experiments. 

Outlook.  85:  834-5.  Ap.  13,  '07.  Texas  Idea.  

Outlook.  85 :  839-43.  Ap.   13,  '07.  Texas  Idea :  City  Government? 

by  a  Board  of  Directors.  J.  J.  Haskell. f 

Outlook.  86 :  127-8.  My.  25,  '07.  Municipal  Efficiency. 
Outlook.  89:  495-7.  Jl.  4,  '08.  Spread  of  the  Commission  Plan. 
Overland,  n.s.  50:  324-8.  O.  '07.  Des  Moines  Plan  of  City  Gov- 
ernment. S.  J.  Dillon. 


t3 


Me" 


^^  COMMISSION   PLAN   OF 

Speaker.  3  :  404-8.  S.  '08.  Commission  System  of  Governmen 


Brief.  Dartmouth  College. 
^_^  Success  Magazine.  1 1  :  83-4.  F.    08.  Something  New  in  Govern- 
ment. H.  S.  Cooper. 

*Washington  (D.  C.)   Times.  National  View  of  the  Des  Moines 
Plan. 
Reprinted    in    City    Hall.    10:  376-8.    My.    '09. 

Wealth    (Des    Moines),    i :    22-6.    Ja.    '09.    Digest    of    the    Des 
Moines  Plan. 

Wealth    (Des    Moines),    i:    20-6.    F.    '09.   Des    Moines   Plan    of 
Municipal  Government.  James  G.  Berryhill. 

Wealth    (Des   Moines),  i  :   19-27.   Mr.  '09.   Des  Moines  Plan   of 
Municipal  Government.  James   G.  Berryhill. 

*Wealth    (Des' Moines),    i:    24-9;    1:12-5;    1:4-6.    My.-Jl.    '09. 
Year  under  the  Des  Moines  Plan.  Henry  E.  Sampson. 

World  To-Day.  7 :  1462.  N.    04.  New  Galveston.  C.  Arthur  Wil- 
liams. 

World  To-Day.   11:943-6.   S.   '06.  Governing  Cities  by  Commis- 
sion. C.  Arthur  Williams. 
- —  World's  Work.  14:  9419-26.  O.  '07.  City  Government  by  Fewer 
Men.  C.  W.  Eliot. 
Recommended   for  purchase. 
—    World's  Work.    18:    11533.    My.   '09.    Des    Moines   Plan   of   City 

Government. 
'        World's  Work.    18:    11639.   Je.   '09.    Another    City   for   Commis- 
sion Government.  i 

Negative  References 
Books,  Pamphlets 

—  *American   Political    Science   Association,    Proceedings,    1906.   3 : 

58-66.  Newport  (R.  I.)   Charter.  Rear  Admiral  F.  E.   Chad- 
wick. 

—  Beale,  J.  H.,  Jr.  City  Government  by  Commission.  Address  be- 

fore Economic  Club  of  Boston,  Ja.  21,  '08. 

Can   be   obtained   upon   request.     Address   Secretary   of   Club. 

— >  Ivins,    William    jM.    City    Government    by    Commission.    An    ad- 
dress  bv    Chairman    of    Committee    on    the    Revised    Charter 


-r  ■. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  13 

of  New  York  before  the  Economic  Club  of  Boston.  Ja.  21, 

'08. 

Can   be   obtained   upon   request.     Address   Secretary   of   Club. 

*Herriott,    F.    I.    Defects    of    Commission    Plan.    Delivered    be- 
fore Prairie  Club,  Des  Moines,  Ja.  12,  '07. 

♦Holly,  Charles  O.  Defects  of  the  Des  Moines  Plan. 
-  National    Municipal    League,    Proceedings    of    the    Providence 
Conference    for    Good    City    Government,    1907.    pp.    166-77. 
Newport   Plan.   Rear  Admiral    Chadwick. 
Libraries    are   recommended   to    pui'chase    this    report. 

National    Municipal    League,    Proceedings    of    Providence    Con- 
ference  for  Good   City  Government,   1907.   pp.    178-92.   How 
Chicago    is    Winning    Good    Government.    George    C.    Sikes, 
Secretary  of  Municipal  Voters  League  of  Chicago. 
Libraries    are   recommended   to    purchase    tliis    report. 

*Starzinger,  Vincent.  City :  Not  a  Business  Corporation, 

"Starzinger,    Vincent.   Commission :    Not   a   Superior  Legislative 
Body. 

*Starzinger,   Vincent.    Superior   Legislation. 

*Texas,  Bulletin  of  the  University  of.  Je.  i,    05.  Some  Funda- 
mental Political  Principles  applied  to  Municipal  Government. 
Samuel  Peterson. 
Out  of  print. 

♦Webster,  Walter  A.  Commission  is  an  Oligarchy. 

♦Webster,   Walter  A.   Government  by  Commission. 

Webster,  Walter  A,  Problem  of  City  Government. 

Sent  on  application.     No.    6,   Beacon   St.,    Boston,   Mass. 

Magazines 

♦Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Times.  D.  8,  '08.  Failure  of  Commission 
Plan.  Hon.  Clinton  L.  White  of  Sacramento,  Calif. 

♦Cedar  Rapids  Republican.   O.  22,  '07.  Commission  Plan.  J.  R. 
Palda.     Written  to  the  Bohemian  Independent  Political  Club 
of  Cedar  Rapids. 
Out  of  print. 

'•'Chautauquan.  51 :  125-6.  Je.  '08.  Newport  Plan  of  City  Govern- 
ment. Rear  Admiral  F.  E.  Chadwick, 

♦City  Hall.  10 :  258-61,  Ja,  '09,  Municipal  Government  by  Commis- 
sion.  Discussion  bv  Messrs.  Grosser,  Gemunder,  and  Oliver. 


14  COMMISSION   PLAN   OF 

City  Hall.  10:273-4.  Ja.  '09.  Control  of  Municipal  Public  Utili- 
ties by  States.  Robert  O.  Brennan,  City  Solicitor  of  Des 
Moines. 

City  Hall.  10 :  408-13.  Je.  '09.  Experts  Discuss  Des  Moines  Plan. 
Debate  between  W.  W.  Wise  and  Commissioner  MacVicar. 

*Iowa  Unionist  (Des  Moines).  Ap.  12,  '07.  Organized  Labor 
Opposes  Commission  Plan. 

Kansas  City  Post.  My.  25,  '08.  Defects  of  Commission  Govern- 
ment: Open  Letter.  Judge  T.  Sims. 

*Midwestern  (Des  Moines).  3:35-6.  Je.  '09.  Des  Moines  Plan. 
W.  W.  Wise. 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  Chiefly  Assumption. 

♦Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  Ja.  9,  '07.  City  Council  Needed  no 
less  than  a  Mayor.  Based  on  Prof.  F.  I.  Herriott's  Com- 
pilations. 

*Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  Ja.  16,  '07.  Some  Facts  and  Figures. 
W.  N.  Jordan. 

*Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  Ja.  19,  '07.  Municipal  Reforms 
Needed. 

*Plain  Talk   (Des  Moines).  J  a.  26.  '07.  Galveston  Plan  Hostile 
to  Business  Efficiency.  Prof.  F.  I.  Herriott. 
Same  as  address  before  Prairie  Club.   Des  Moines,   Ja.   26,   "07. 

*Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  F.  2,  '07,  Dominant  Mayor  Essen- 
tial in  Good  City  Government.  Based  on  Prof.  F.  I.  Herriott's 
Compilations. 

*Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  F.  16,  '07.  Commission  System 
and  Non-Partizan  Government.  Prof.  F.  I.  Herriott's  Com- 
pilations. 

Springfield  (Mass.)  Union.  D.  3,  '07.  Newport  Plan.  Rear 
Admiral  Chadwick.  Before  Economic  Club. 


INTRODUCTION 


V-arious  Forms  of  City  Government 

At  present  there  is  no  uniform  system  of  city  government 
in  the  United  States.  Not  only  do  the  cities  of  the  several 
commonv^ealths  have  different  forms,  but,  in  many  instances, 
municipalities  within  the  same  state  operate  under  widely  vary- 
ing plans  of  organization.  Such  a  situation  has  made  the  ques- 
tion of  city  government  in  this  country  both  complex  and  difficult. 
Furthermore,  a  close  study  of  the  problem  shows  that  while  cer- 
tain cities  have,  under  a  given  form  of  organization,  been  suc- 
cessfully governed,  other  cities  of  approximately  the  same 
size,  often  in  the  same  state  and  under  the  same  organization, 
have  become  notorious  examples  of  the  failure  of  the  plan. 
Sometimes  the  breakdown  has  been  sudden,  like  the  collapse  of 
a  great  building.  At  other  times,  it  has  been  as  the  gradual 
crumbling  away  of  a  stone  wall,  until  the  whole  structure  was 
undermined,  and  the  machinery  of  government  rendered  ineffec- 
tual and  useless. 

The  fact  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  a  study  of  municipal 
government  that  the  several  forms  now  in  existence  are  the  re- 
sult of  historical  development.  They  are  the  outgrowth  of  our 
industrial  and  social  conditions.  Five  distinct  types  of  city  gov- 
ernment have  been  evolved.  In  addition  there  are  many  modifi- 
cations of  these  forms. 

The  earliest  plan  was  the  council  system.  It  received  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  the  council  exercised  the  important 
functions  of  government.  This  body  consisted  of  a  mayor,  a 
recorder,  the  aldermen,  and  the  councillors.  In  addition  to  be- 
ing members  of  the  council,  the  mayor,  the  recorder,  and  the 
aldermen  performed  judicial  and  police  functions.  The  sys- 
tem was  borrowed  from  England. 


i6  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  however, 
American  cities  began  to  pattern  their  government  after  the 
plan  of  national  organization.  That  is,  city  functions  were  divid- 
ed into  three  classes:  the  executive,  the  legislative,  and  the  ju- 
dicial. This  system  became  known  as  the  federal  plan,  due,  of 
course,  to  its  close  analogy  to  the  divisions  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment.    The  form  soon  became,  and  still  is  in  general  use. 

By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  certain  cities  insti- 
tuted the  board  system.  Under  this  plan  important  functions, 
such  as  police,  fire,  public  health,  etc.,  were  delegated  to  boards 
or  commissions.  In  much  of  their  work  these  boards  acted  in- 
dependently of  the  city  council.  In  fact,  they  often  exercised 
quasi-legislative  power  in  addition  to  their  administrative  duties. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  century  another  form — the  mayor  sys- 
tem— was  established.  This  plan  is  sometimes  called  the  one 
man  government,  because  all  power  is  vested  in  the  hands  of  the 
mayor.  He  is  held  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  municipal 
business. 

The  latest  type  of  organization  to  excite  wide  spread  interest 
is  the  commission  plan.  This  system  provides  that  the  control 
of  the  city  shall  be  vested  in  a  small  body  of  men  elected  at  large. 
These  men  are  known  as  commissioners.  They  devote  all  their 
time  to  city  affairs.  Individually  they  perform  work  of  admin- 
Mstration,  while  collectively   they  pass  on  all  needed  legislation. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  among  these  forms  are  found  extreme 
types  of  city  organization.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  early  coun- 
cil system,  now  practically  extinct,  where  large  powers  and  re- 
sponsibilities rest  in  a  general  legislative  body.  At  the  other  ex- 
treme is  the  commission  plan,  in  which  the  same  group  of  men 
do  the  work  of  administration  and  legislation.  The  problem 
which  is  at  present  confronting  the  American  people  is  which 
of  the  various  forms,  if  any,  is  best  suited  to  the  average  Amer- 
ican municipality.  There  are  many  who  maintain  that  no  one 
form  will  prove  satisfactory  to  all  cities,  because  of  varying 
political,  social  and  economic  conditions. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  17 

Functions  of  City  Government 

When  determining  the  form  of  organization  a  government 
should  have,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  careful  consid- 
eration of  the  functions  which  that  government  has  to  perform. 
It  is  readily  seen  that  the  problems  with  which  city  officials  have 
to  deal  are  vastly  different  in  character  from  those  that  confront 
officers  of  the  state  and  nation. 

Our  federal  government  must  solve  such  political  and  eco- 
nomic questions  as  Inter-state  commerce,  the  tariff,  foreign  rela- 
tions, etc. — problems,  which,  by  their  very  nature,  require  extend- 
ed legislation,  administration,  and  adjudication.  State  govern- 
ment is  concerned  largely  with  matters  of  broad  policy,  such  as 
regulation  of  liquor  traffic  within  the  commonwealth,  controlling 
state  commerce,  maintaining  state  institutions,  and  passing  mani- 
fold laws  of  a  general  character.  In  state  government,  as  in 
federal,  experience  has  proved  the  wisdom  of  retaining  a  form 
of  organization  in  which  the  legislative,  administrative,  and  ju- 
dicial departments  are  separated  one  from  the  other. 

Questions  which  arise  in  the  conduct  of  municipal  affairs, 
however,  do  not  always  require  the  checking  and  balancing  be- 
tween departments  so  essential  in  state  and  national  governments. 
Some  investigators  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  such  checking  and 
balancing  does  not  operate  at  all  in  city  government.  For  exam- 
ple, it  is  not  found  in  the  judical  department.  Municipal  courts 
do  not  question  the  validity  of  acts  of  the  city  council,  or  of  ad- 
ministrative officers.  They  confine  themselves  almost  wholly 
to  hearing  infringements  of  municipal  ordinances.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  city  courts  must  conform  their  rulings  to  the  dic- 
tum of  state  tribunals,  while  in  all  cases  of  importance  affecting 
life,  liberty,  or  property,  the  citizen  has  ample  recourse  from  the 
city  court  to  the  state  bench. 

One  duty  of  city  government  is  administration  of  state  laws. 
City  officials  are  compelled  by  the  state  legislature  to  eyforce 
all  state  laws  within  the  city  limits. 

The  great  function,  however,  of  the  city  is  concerned  with 
caring   for   its   own   needs.     These   include   such    enterprises   as 


i8  COMMISSION   PLAN   OF 

building  bridges,  paving  streets  and  constructing  sewers.  Well 
equipped  and  highly  organized  police  and  fire  departments  are 
maintained.  Public  health  must  be  protected;  the  poor  and  sick 
given  relief.  A  multiplicity  of  duties  of  this  nature  devolves 
upon  the  city.  In  addition,  many  matters  of  deliberation  and 
policy  are  worked  out.  For  instance,  when  the  annual  budget 
of  the  city  of  Boston  is  compiled,  those  in  charge  must  bear  in 
mind  that  the  city  spends  annually  over  $40,000,000,  and  has  pay 
rolls  including  12,000  individuals.  Often  projects  are  undertaken 
which  cover  long  periods  of  time,  while  the  number  of  minor 
legislative  acts,  such  as  ordinances,  contracts,  etc.,  soon  reach 
into  the  thousands.  All  these  things,  and  many  more,  must  be 
performed  by  a  modern  municipality. 

Decay  of  the  Council 

A  matter  the  investigator  must  l)ear  in  mind  before  he  ar- 
rives at  a  conclusion  as  to  the  nature  of  the  proposition  before 
him  is  the  fact,  undeniable  and  indisputable,  that  within  the  last 
fifty  years  there  has  been  a  gradual  disintegration  of  the  city 
council  as  a  separate  legislative  organ  of  government.  As  re- 
grettable as  this  may  be,  it  has,  nevertheless,  actually  taken  place. 
This  decay  has  doubtless  been  due  to  a  number  of  causes,  such 
as : — interference  of  the  state  legislature  in  city  affairs,  the  con- 
fusing of  city  issues  with  state  and  national  politics,  the  attempt 
on  the  part  of  council  bodies  to  perform  administrative  functions, 
the  failure  of  citizens  to  elect  capable  men  to  office,  and  very 
often,  because  council  bodies  have  been  so  organized  as  to  be  en- 
tirely unsuited  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  twentieth  century  city. 

The  Issue 

The  issue  before  the  student  of  municipal  government  is 
clear.  It  is  :  Are  the  duties  and  functions  of  city  government 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  require  a  form  of  organization  in  which 
the  legislative  and  administrative  departments  are  separate,  or 
can  the  work  be  better  performed  by  merging  the  legislative  and 
administrative  branches  into  one  body?     The  cities  of   England 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  19 

and  of  continental  Europe,  which  are  admittedly  superior  in 
government  to  those  in  America,  have  answered  this  question 
by  jealously  maintaining  their  separate  city  councils.  In  the 
United  States  adherents  of  a  separate  council  are  numbered  by 
the  thousands.  The  city  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  at  present 
conceded  to  be  one  of  the  best  governed  cities,  has  a  separate 
council  of  about  one  hundred  members.  This  body  performs 
the  legislative  and  deliberative  functions  of  government.  It  does 
not  administer. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  hundreds  of  American  municipalities 
conducted  according  to  the  prevailing  form — by  separate  legisla- 
tive and  administrative  departments — such  form  of  government 
has  fallen  into  disrepute.  It  has  been  impossible  to  locate  re- 
sponsibility either  in  legislation  or  administration.  Matters  of 
accounting,  expenditures,  enforcement  of  laws,  and  granting  of 
franchises  have  been  conducted  in  a  most  unbusinesslike,  often 
corrupt  manner.  To  these  cities  the  commission  plan,  which 
eliminates  entirely  the  separate  council,  which  fixes  individual 
responsibilit}',  which  is  simple  in  construction,  quick  and  effective 
in  operation,  and  essentially  businesslike  in  every  detail,  has 
come  as  a  welcome  relief. 

It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated  that  if  the  student  is  to 
get  a  clear  conception  of  the  issues  involved  in  the  commission 
problem  he  must  keep  his  point  of  view  so  broad  that  he  can 
see  in  just  what  ways  his  particular  issue  is  affected  by  other 
important  movements.  To  assist  in  doing  this  there  has  been 
included  in  this  book  a  section  called  general  discussion.  In 
this  division  the  reader  will  find  discussed  the  commission  plan 
as  it  is  related  to  other  vital  questions  of  the  day.  Its  connection 
with  the  "old"'  form  of  city  organization  and  its  relation  with 
present  municipal  movements  are  considered.  Also  a  non-parti- 
zan  consideration  of  the  question  is  found  here.  It  is  advised  that 
the  articles  in  this  section  be  carefully  read  before  either  the 
affirmative  or  negative  material  is  perused. 


n^ 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION 

Problems  in  Good  City  Government,  pp.  198-207. 
Prof.  L.  S.  Rowe. 

Our  inherited  ideas  of  democratic  government  have  dictated 
a  form  of  city  organization  in  w^hich  the  local  representative 
assembly  or  city  council  occupies  an  important  position. 
The  same  political  traditions  dictate  that  the  higher  adminis- 
trative officials  of  the  city,  no  matter  what  their  functions, 
shall  be  chosen  by  popular  election/  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  this  tenacious  adherence  to  what  we  regard  as  the  es- 
sentials of  democracy  has  been  contemporaneous  with  a  totally 
different  movement  in  other  branches  of  administrative  ac- 
tivity. The  management  of  great  business  enterprises  is  be- 
ing concentrated  in  the  executive  heads  of  industrial  corpora- 
tions. The  responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  affairs  of  edu- 
cational and  charitable  institutions  is  likewise  drifting  from 
the  board  to  the  single  executive  head.  Even  in  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  church  this  tendency  toward  the  con- 
centration'of  executive  power  is  apparent.  Wherever  the 
form  of  board  management  is  still  preserved,  the  actual  con- 
trol and  responsibility  are  vested  in  one  individual,  whether  he 
be  called  the  president  of  the  board  or  the  chairman  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee.  However  we  may  regard  this  tendency,  there 
is  every  indication  that  it  is  not  merely  a  passing  phase,  but 
that  the  immediate  future  will  witness  a  strengthening  of  its 
influence. 

Tendencies  so  clearly  marked  in  American  business  and  in- 
dustrial activity  are  certain  to  exert  an  influence  on  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs.  We  cannot  hope  permanently  to 
preserve  the  illusion  that  political  organization  can  be  kept  from 
the  influences  which  are  dominant  in  every  department  of 
our  national  life. 

If  the  concentration  of  power  in  the  mayor  represents  a 
permanent    tendency    in     American    administrative    policy,    the 


22.  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

question  immediately  presents  itself  whether  we  can  reconcile 
these  changes  with  our  views  of  democracy.  No  one  will  deny 
that  the  increase  of  executive  power  as  well  as  its  concentration 
has  been  accompanied  by  a  marked  increase  in  efficiency.  The 
choice  presented  to  our  American  communities,  therefore,  takes 
the  form  of  an  apparent  opposition  between  democracy  and  ef- 
ficiency. Thus  presented,  there  is  little  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate 
choice  of  the  American  people,  who,  above  all  other  people  of 
western  civilization,  are  worshipers  of  efficiency.  The  establish- 
ment, therefore,  of  a  harmonious  relation  between  democracy 
and  efficiency,  both  in  thought  and  in  action,  becomes  a  requisite 
for  the  maintenance  of  those  institutions  which  we  are  accustom- 
ed to  regard  as  the  distinctive  products  of  American  civilization. 

If  this  analysis  of  the  present  situation  be  correct,  the  out- 
look for  the  municipal  council  is  anything  but  encouraging. 
\Vhile  the  analogy  between  a  business  and  a  municipal  corpora- 
tion may  be  faulty  in  many  respects,  it  is  of  real  value  when 
viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  organization  of  city  depart- 
ments. Whether  or  not  we  agree  with  this  analogy,  we 
cannot  disregard  the  fact  that  the  popular  view  with  reference 
to  the  administration  of  the  city's  executive  departments  is 
moving  toward  the  standards  which  have  proved  so  successful 
in  the  management  of  great  corporate  enterprises.  This  means 
that  the  people  are  prepared  to  accept  the  same  administrative 
standards  in  municipal  affairs  as  those  which  prevail  in  the 
business  world.  The  recent  proposal  to  give  the  police  com- 
missioner of  New  York  a  term  of  ten  years  or  possibly  a  life 
tenure,  would  have  been  received  with  scorn  and  indignation 
fifty  years  ago.  To-day  it  is  regarded  by  many  as  the  best 
means  of   securing  an  efficient   administration  of  this   service. 

Similarly,  the  increasing  limitation  of  the  powers  of  the 
municipal  council  is  not  due  to  any  decline  in  the  character  of  its 
membership,  but  rather  to  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  dif- 
ficulty of  enforcing  responsibility  against  a  large  assembly.  The 
repeated  failure  of  the  efforts  to  enforce  such  responsibility 
is  accountable  for  the  steady  decline  of  popular  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  council. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  23 

It  is  significant  that  even  in  those  cities  in  which  years  of 
effort  have  finally  secured  an  improvement  in  the  character  of 
the  men  serving  in  the  local  legislative  body,  the  betterment  of 
the  administrative  service  is  in  no  sense  commensurate  with 
the  amount  of  effort  expended.  The  vital  interest  of  the  citizens 
lies  in  strengthening  the  administrative  service  rather  than  the 
legislative  body.  The  gradual  appreciation  of  this  fact  has  led 
to  the  transference  of  what  were  formerly  regarded  as  legis- 
lative functions  to  administrative  officers.  Altogether  the  move- 
ment is  by  no  means  uniform,  the  general  trend  of  institutional 
development  in  this  country  is  to  reduce  the  power  of  the 
council  to  a  control  over  finances,  and  by  means  of  constitutional 
and  statutory  limitations  to  set  definite  limits  even  to  this  con- 
trol. The  council  is  gradually  assuming  the  position  of  an  or- 
gan of  government  to  prevent  the  extravagant  or  unwise  ex- 
penditure of  public  funds.  It  is  thus  rapidly  becoming  a  nega- 
tive factor  in  our  municipal  system  To  an  increasing  extent 
the  American  people  are  looking  to  the  executive  not  only  for 
the  execution,  but  also  for  the  planning  of  municipal  improve- 
ments. Even  the  freedom  of  discussion  in  the  council  is  being 
subjected  to  statutory  limitations  by  provisions  requiring  that  the 
vote  on  financial  and  franchise  questions  shall  be  delayed  be- 
yond a  certain  period. 

This  decline  in  the  power  of  the  council  involves  no  loss 
of  popular  control.  In  every  city  in  which  the  mayor  has  been 
given  independent  powers  of  appointment,  and  has  been  made 
the  real  head  of  the  administrative  organization  of  the  city,  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  government  to  public  opinion  has  been  con- 
siderably increased.  Rightly  viewed,  this  change  involves  pos- 
sibilities of  popular  control  which  we  have  hardly  begun  to 
realize.  Almost  every  city  in  the  country  offers  a  number  of 
instances  in  which  the  mayor,  when  supported  by  popular  opin- 
ion, has  been  able  to  withstand  the  combined  influence  of  the 
council  and  any  machine  organization  that  attempted  to  direct 
his  action. 

The  lessons  of  this  experience  have  left  their  impress  upon 
the  political  thought  of  the  American   people,   and   explain  the 


24  COMMISSION   PLAN   OF 

tendency  to  look  to  the  executive  rather  than  to  the  legislative 
authority  for  the  solution  of  difficulties.  Popular  control  over 
the  city  government  will  become  more  effective  as  public  opin- 
ion becomes  more  thoroughly  organized.  At  present  we  must 
depend  upon  a  great  number  of  voluntary  organizations,  rep- 
resenting different  elements  in  the  community,  but  which  can- 
not from  the  nature  of  the  case  represent  the  opinion  of  the 
community  as  a  whole. 

The  danger  involved  in  this  tendency  toward  concentration 
of  executive  power  is  that  the  council  will  be  divested  not  only 
of  its  administrative,  but  of  its  legislative  powers  as  well.  The 
desire  for  greater  administrative  efficiency  may  lead  us  to  a 
type  of  government  in  which  the  determination  of  executive  poli- 
cy will  be  left  exclusively  to  the  mayor  and  his  heads  of  de- 
partments. This  form  of  organization  is  certain,  to  give  us  bet- 
ter government  than  does  our  present  large  and  unwieldy  coun- 
cil. The  accumulated  experience  of  American  cities  has  shown 
tnat  unless  the  council  is  reduced  to  a  single  chamber,  with  a 
small  membership,  responsibility  cannot  be  enforced.  The  choice 
that  presents  itself  is  clear  and  simple.  We  must  either  make 
the  council  a  small  body  of  nine  or  eleven  members,  elected  by 
the  people,  having  complete  power  over  the  finances  of  the  city, 
or  we  shall  inevitably  be  driven  to  a  system  in  which  the  coun- 
cil will  disappear,  and  all  power  will  be  lodged  in  the  mayor  and 
his  heads  of  departments. 

The  reconciliation  of  the  idea  of  popular  government  with 
the  concentration  of  executive  power  represents  the  first  step 
toward  a  better  adjustment  of  our  political  thinking  to  the  condi- 
tions of  city  life.  A  second  and  no  less  important  step  involves 
some  further  modifications  in  our  ideals  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion. American  cities  are  organized  as  if  they  were  the  small 
tov^ns  and  villages  of  fifty  years  ago.  We  have  proceeded  on 
the  assumption  that  an  aggressive  and  progressive  municipal 
poHcy  can  be  developed  out  of  the  compromise  of  conflicting  dis- 
trict interests.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  our  present  plan  of  district 
representation  clogs  positive  action  and  prevents  the  systematic 
planning  and  economical  execution  of  great  public  improvements. 

Placing    the    mayor    as    a    check    upon    the    council    and    the 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  25 

council  as  a  check  upon  the  mayor  has  served  to  strengthen 
that  most  baneful  of  political  superstitions — the  belief  in  a  self- 
acting  governmental  mechanism  which  v^ill  carry  on  the  work 
of  government  without  the  need  of  watchfulness  and  alertness 
on  the  part  of  the  people.  For  every  evil,  no  matter  what  its 
nature,  we  recur  to  the  statute  book.  There  is  a  widespread 
belief  throughout  the  country  that  for  every  abuse  there  is  a 
legislative  remedy.  This  belief  in  the  moralizing  power  of  the 
law  is  one  of  the  most  insidious  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
corrupting  influences  in  our  public  life.  It  leads  us  to  place 
unenforceable  laws  on  the  statute  books,  and  the  disregard  of 
these  laws  becomes  the  instrument  of  blackmail  and   bribery. 

The  same  political  superstition  pervades  the  organization 
of  our  city  government — to  construct  a  self-acting  mechanism 
which  will  secure  honesty  and  guarantee  efficient  administration. 
By  pitting  the  executive  against  the  legislative  authority,  by 
electing  one  official  to  exercise  control  over  another,  and  by 
making  official  terms  as  short  as  possible,  we  have  beguiled  our- 
selves with  the  illusion  that  it  is  possible  to  construct  a  mech- 
anism of  government  which  requires  the  attention  of  the  citizens 
only  at  stated  election  periods.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this 
search  for  a  self-acting  governmental  machine  has  proved  fruit- 
less, for  it  represents  an  attempt  to  relieve  ourselves  of  a  respon- 
sibility which  we  cannot  throw  off.  The  complexity  of  organiza- 
tion that  has  resulted  from  this  attempt  to  secure  efficiency  and 
honesty  through  statutes  rather  than  through  men  has  done  more 
to  retard  municipal  progress  than  any  other  influence. 

The  problem  presented  by  city  government  in  the  United  States 
is  not  merely  to  construct  a  well-balanced  mechanism  of  govern- 
ment, but  so  to  construct  that  government  that  it  will  require 
the  alertness  and  watchfulness  of  the  people.  The  situation  in 
Philadelphia  is  an  instructive  instance  of  the  effect  of  so  organiz- 
ing the  government  as  to  leave  the  people  under  the  impression 
that  officials  are  so  encompassed  with  statutory  limitations  that 
they  have  little  power  for  evil.  With  a  bicameral  council,  a  mayor 
whose  appointments  are  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  upper 
branch  of  the  local  legislative  body,  and  such  important  services 
as  the  control  of  education  vested  in  a  board  appointed  by  the 


26  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

local  judiciary,  authority  is  split  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
people  believe  that  no  official  or  group  of  officials  enjoys  suffi- 
cient power  to  work  much  harm.  We  fail  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  this  splitting  of  authority  means  that  harmony  can  be  secured 
only  by  gathering  these  loose  threads  in  the  hands  of  some  per- 
son or  group  of  persons,  who,  while  not  officially  recognized  in 
the  organization  of  government,  exercises  the  real  government- 
al power. 

The  foregoing  discussion  has  shown  that  industrial  and  so- 
cial organization  in  the  United  States  is  tending  toward  an  in- 
creasing concentration  of  executive  and  administrative  power, 
and  that  this  movement  has  been  accompanied  by  a  correspond- 
ing increase  in  effiiciency.  In  the  government  of  our  municipal- 
ities the  fear  of  absolutism  has  led  us  to  offer  considerable  re- 
sistance to  a  plan  whose  value  is  no  longer  questioned  in  other 
departments  of  organized  effort.  The  half-hearted  recognition 
of  this  principle  has  led  to  a  series  of  makeshifts,  which  have 
failed  to  give  satisfactory  results. 

Instead  of  giving  the  mayor  complete  control  over  the  ad- 
ministrative work  of  the  city,  we  have,  in  most  cases,  hampered 
his  powers  of  appointment,  making  them  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  council.  The  unfortunate  compromises  which  this 
system  has  compelled  the  mayor  to  make  have  been  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  council,  and  have  served  further  to  weaken  faith  in 
local  representative  assemblies.  If  this  feeling  continues  to  in- 
crease in  intensity,  it  is  likely  to  carry  us  to  a  form  of  city  gov- 
ernment in  which  the  mayor  and  the  heads  of  executive  depart- 
ments will  exercise  not  only  the  administrative,  but  also  the  legis- 
lative functions  of  the  municipality. 

The  alternative  that  presents  itself  to  the  American  people  is 
clear  and  unmistakable.  If  we  wish  to  preserve  the  council,  we 
must  be  prepared  to  make  three  changes :  First,  to  deprive  it  of 
all  participation  in  the  appointment  of  executive  officials ;  sec- 
ondly, to  transform  it  from  a  bicameral  organization  to  a  single 
chamber,  and  thirdly,  to  reduce  its  membership.  Unless  this  is 
done,  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  we  shall  gradually  move  toward 
a  system  in  which  both  executive  and  legislative  powers  will  be 
vested  in  the  mayor  and  the  heads  of  executive  departments. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  27 

It  is  important  for  those  who  are  interested  in  the  betterment 
of  city  government  to  realize  that  while  in  the  organization  of 
government  compromises  may  be  attempted,  the  actual  operation 
of  any  system  is  determined  by  deep  underlying  forces  over  which 
the  individual  has  little  control.  The  compromises  that  have  been 
dictated  by  our  unwillingness  to  accept  the  consequences  of  cer- 
tain fundamental  canons  of  political  organization  have  placed  our 
city  governments  at  the  mercy  of  a  small  group  of  men  who 
understand  these  principles  more  clearly  than  we,  and  who  are 
able  to  manipulate  this  organization  for  their  own  ends. 

The  traditional  fear  of  absolutism  need  not  deter  us  from 
making  the  mayor  the  real  executive  head  of  the  city  government. 
Correctly  interpreted,  this  plan  offers  possibilities  of  popular  con- 
trol which  our  present  system  lacks.  At  all  events,  it  is  well  for 
us  to  understand  that  the  demand  for  efficiency,  which  the  Amer- 
ican people  place  above  their  desire  for  democratic  rule,  will  in- 
evitably lead  to  this  concentration  of  executive  power.  The  real 
alternative  is,  therefore,  whether  this  concentration  of  power  will 
be  accompanied  by  the  destruction  of  the  city  council,  or  whether 
the  city  council  will  survive  as  an  org„n  of  government  restricted 
to  purely  legislative  functions. 

Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political 
Science.  7:155-187.  April,  1889. 

Municipal  History  of  New  Orleans.    William  W.  Howe. 

The  year  1870  witnessed  an  experiment  in  municipal  govern- 
ment in  New  Orleans  which  deserves  special  mention.  The 
charter  enacted  in  that  year  by  the  legislature,  adopted  what 
was  generally  known  as  the  administrative  system.  The  limits 
of  the  city  were  considerably  enlarged  by  including  what  is  now 
known  as  the  sixth  district,  and  was  formerly  Jefferson  City, 
and  the  government  of  the  municipality  thus  established  was 
vested  in  a  Mayor  and  seven  Administrators ;  namely,  one  of 
Finance,  one  of  Commerce,  one  of  Improvements,  one  of  Assess- 
ments, one  of  Public  Accounts,  and  one  of  Waterworks  and 
Public  Buildings.     These  officials  in  the  first  place  possessed  ad- 


28  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

ministrative  and  executive  functions  corresponding  to  their  names  : 
and  each  of  the  seven  was  accordingly  at  the  head  of  a  bureau 
or  department  created  for  him  by  the  statute  as  follows :  a  De- 
partment of  Finance,  which  was  the  city  treasury ;  a  Department 
of  Commerce  which  had  general  superintendence  of  all  matters 
relating  to  markets,  railroads,  canals,  weights  and  measures,  the 
fire  department  and  manufactories;  a  Department  of  Assess- 
ment, with  general  superintendence  of  all  matters  of  taxation 
and  license;  a  Department  of  Improvements  charged  with  the 
construction,  cleansing  and  repair  of  streets,  sidewalks,  wharves, 
bridges  and  drains;  a  Department  of  Police  having  charge  of 
public  order,  houses  of  refuge  and  corrections,  and  the  lighting 
of  the  city;  a  Department  of  Public  Accounts  which  comprised 
all  the  duties  of  an  Auditor  and  Comptroller;  and,  finally,  a 
Department  of  Waterworks  and  Public  Buildings,  with  super- 
vision of  waterworks,  schoolhouses,   hospitals   and   asylums. 

But  in  the  second  place  it  was  provided  that  the  same  May- 
or and  Administrators  should  form  the  Council  and  in  a  col- 
lective capacity  should  have  extensive  legislative  power  for  lo- 
cal purposes.  In  this  capacity  it  resembles  the  Spanish  Cabildo. 
Such  a  Council  possessed  naturally  many  valuable  qualities.  Its 
members  were  elected  on  a  general  ticket  and  were  not  sup- 
posed to  represent  any  local  clique.  In  the  exercise  of  their 
administrative  duties  they  became  familiar  with  the  need  of 
their  respective  departments  and  could  advocate,  explain  or  de- 
fend on  the  floor  of  the  city  legislature  what  was  desired 
or  had  been  done  in  the  bureau.  A  small  and  compact  body, 
its  meetings  were  as  businesslike  as  those  of  a  bank  directory. 
Its  custom  was  to  assemble  in  the  Mayor's  parlor  generally  on 
the  day  before  the  regular  weekly  meeting;  and  sitting  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  to  discuss  with  the  citizens  who  chose  to 
attend,  such  subjects  of  public  interest  as  might  be  brought 
up.  Reporters  from  the  daily  press  were  present,  and  the 
journals  of  the  next  niorning  gave  full  particulars  of  the  in- 
terchange of  ideas.  If  the  subject  seemed  very  important 
and  difficult,  leading  citizens  were  invited  by  letter  or  advertise- 
ment to  attend  and  give  their  views.  As  an  example  of  thorough 
discussion    it   may  be    mentioned   that   an    ordinance    in    relation 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  29 

to  sewerage  and  drainage  which  was  proposed  in  1881,  was  de- 
l>ated  upwards  of  one  year,  and  a  hearing  given  to  every  friend 
or  opponent  who  desired  to  express  his  views. 

No  system  of  government  can  pretend  to  be  perfect ;  and  the 
charter  of  1870  could  not  satisfy  every  one.  It  was  claimed  that 
the  Council  under  the  charter  was  too  small,  and  could  be  too 
easily  controlled  in  the  interests  of  private  or  corporate  gain.  No 
preponderant  evidence,  however,  of  this  assertion  ever  apeared. 
The  administrators  as  a  rule,  were  citizens  prominent  either  in 
business  or  politics,  and  as  such  were  far  mere  amenable  to  pub- 
lic opinion  than  the  ordinary  councilmen  of  the  average  Ameri- 
can city.  Their  methods  were  essentially  businesslike  and  their 
legislation  as  a  whole  was  characterized  by  public  spirit  and 
progress. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  administrative  system  could 
not  have  been  continued  longer  than  it  was,  but  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  new  state  constitution  in  1879  a  powerful  pressure 
for  a  complete  change  was  established  by  local  politicians.  The 
legislature,  accordingly,  in  June,  1882,  adopted  the  present 
charter  of  New  Orleans. 


State  Administration  and  the  Commission  Plan. 
E.  Clyde  Robbins. 

A  great  political  upheaval  is  taking  place  in  city  government 
in  the  middle  west.  The  movement  is  not  a  sudden  revolt  of 
graft-burdened  citizens,  nor  is  it  the  result  of  ill-judged  munici- 
pal agitation.  Rather  it  is  a  response  to  fundamental  changes 
that  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the  industrial  and  politi- 
cal life  of  cities  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  At  present,  however, 
this  movement  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  ambitious  reformers.  If 
for  any  reason  it  should  be  misguided,  the  consequences  may  be 
disastrous,  for  its  causes  are  powerful  and  permanent ;  but  if 
properly  directed,  encouraging  prospects  for  municipal  improve- 
ment are  presented. 

The  change  from  existing  conditions   is  taking  two  well  de- 


30  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF 

fined  courses,  both  of  which  are  held  with  vigor  and  enthusiasm. 
One  movement  is  toward  state  administrative  control  over  cities. 
At  present  each  commonwealth  exercises  legislative  control  over 
its  municipalities.  The  state  legislature  sets  forth  in  detail  the 
powers  and  functions  of  city  government.  A  municipality  is  for- 
bidden to  use  any  right  or  privilege  that  is  not  found  in  the  list 
of  powers  that  the  legislature  has  especially  granted.  Before 
cities  may  assume  a  new  function,  the  legislature  must  pass  an 
act  expressly  authorizing  it. 

Conditions  as  they  now  exist  are  admittedly  unsatisfactory. 
The  city  is  the  creature  of  the  state  legislature.  It  is  subjected 
to  all  the  whims  and  prejudices  of  a  law-making  body  that  is 
essentially  partisan.  This  partisanship  is  often  manifest.  For 
instance,  if  a  majority  in  the  state  legislature  is  of  a  given  party 
faith,  while  the  large  cities  of  the  state  are  of  an  opposing  belief, 
it  is  not  unusual  for  the  legislature  to  pass  measures  harassing 
these  municipalities.  Often,  too,  there  is  rupture  between  rep- 
resentatives from  city  precincts  and  those  from  rural  districts. 
The  result  is  that  measures  pertaining  to  cities  receive  biased 
and  improper  consideration.  Under  legislative  control  the  enact- 
ment of  new  measures,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  functions  of 
government,  does  not  rest  with  the  city  but  with  the  state  legis- 
lature. As  a  consequence,  municipalities  find  themselves  unable 
to  inaugurate  needed  reforms  simply  because  they  do  not  possess 
requisite    governing  power. 

The  plan  of  state  administrative  control  is  something  very 
different  from  the  system  now  in  use.  Strangely  enough  at 
first  glance  the  scheme  appears  to  take  from  the  city  the  few 
powers  that  it  exercises.  It  is  nothing  less  than  an  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  state  to  supervise  the  actual  operation  of 
important  municipal  activities.  The  list  of  things  that  the  state 
seeks  to  superintend  includes  the  lighting,  heatmg,  water  and 
transportation  services  of  the  city.  Over  companies  furnish- 
ing these  facilities  the  commonwealth  would  institute  a  strict 
administrative  supervision. 

This  superintendence,  however,  is  not  exercised  by  the  legis- 
lature itself.  In  place  of  such  regulation  a  state  commission  is 
estabHshed,  which  has  supervision  over  the  public  utility  corpora- 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  31 

tions  of  the  various  cities  in  the  state.  In  many  respects  the 
body  is  similar  in  nature  to  boards  of  railway  commissioners  and 
those  state  commissions  that  everywhere  look  after  hospitals, 
asylums,  and  penal  institutions. 

The  other  change  that  is  taking  place  in  municipalities  of  the 
middle  west  is  the  growing  popularity  of  the  commission  plan 
of  city  government.  Under  such  a  method  the  work  of  govern- 
ing the  city  is  turned  over  to  a  single  body  of  men.  These 
men  are  called  councilmen  or  commissioners.  They  are  paid 
adequate"  salaries,  and  give  their  whole  time  to  their  offices.  It  is 
their  sole  work  to  govern  the  city  upon  a  strictly  non-partizan 
business  basis.  In  some  places  provision  is  made  whereby  com- 
missioners may  be  removed  from  office  before  their  regular 
terms  expire  if,  for  any  reason,  the  conduct  of  municipal  busi- 
ness is   disapproved  by  a  majority  of  voters. 

Neither  state  administrative  control  nor  the  commission  plan 
originated  in  the  middle  west.  Both  have  been  tried  elsewhere. 
It  is  doubtful  if  people  in  the  middle  west  are  themselves  con- 
scious that  they  are  combining  in  one  experiment  two  of  the 
most  important  municipal  measures  of  the  present  day.  Yet 
this  is  being  done.  The  result  is  bound  to  be  interesting.  It 
may  also  be  extremely  fruitful,  for  no  one  will  deny  that  the 
two  great  defects  in  present  American  city  government  are,  first, 
in  the  relations  existing  between  the  state  legislature  and  the  city 
government,  and,  second,  in  the  actual  governmental  machinery  of 
the  city.  These  are  the  two  deficiencies  that  the  plan  of  state 
administrative  control  and  the  commission  form  of  government 
seek  to  correct. 

State  Administrative  Control 

If  the  plan  of  state  administrative  control  over  cities  were 
simply  to  become  an  additional  fixture  in  our  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment, it  would  be  well  worth  studying.  But  it  presents  great- 
er possibilities  than  that.  There  are  certain  things  about  it 
which  arouse  a  legitimate  hope  that  it  will  ultimately  supersede 


32  COMMISSION  PLAN  OF  . 

the  present  defective  and  unsatisfactory  legislative  control.  If 
it  should  do  this,  it  v^ould  stand  as  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
measures  in  American  municipal  history. 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  purpose  of  state  administrative 
control  is  to  give  the  commonwealth  supervision  over  public  serv- 
ice corporations — those  corporations  that  administer  to  the  com- 
mon needs  of  the  people  of  the  city.  Such  regulation  is  in 
complete  harmony  with  our  present  municipal  advancement. 
For  years  it  has  been  recognized  that  some  of  the  most  malig- 
nant evils  in  city  government  are  those  connected  with  public 
service  corporations.  Gas,  electric  light  and  street  railway  com- 
panies and  the  corporations  that  furnish  water,  heat  and  power 
have  each  played  a  part  in  making  American  city  government 
appear  inefficient  and  corrupt. 

Only  in  late  years  has  there  been  a  general  recognition  of  this 
fact.  The  reason  why  the  evil  was  not  ferreted  out  sooner  is 
not  difficult  to  explain.  Public  service  corporations  were  not  an 
act  of  special  creation.  They  have  matured  by  a  slow  evolu- 
tionary process;  they  have  grown  just  as  the  city  has  grown. 
Their  life  has  been  a  part  of  the  city's  life.  They  are  bone  of  its 
bone,  and  flesh  of  its  flesh.  If  they  had  come  into  being  over 
night,  the  next  morning  every  citizen  would  have  hailed  their  pres- 
ence and  to  some  extent  at  least,  would  have  caught  the  possibili- 
ties of  their  power  for  good  and  evil.  But  so  unobserved  was  the 
oncoming  of  these  corporations  that  until  comparatively  recent 
times  they  developed  almost  undisturbed.  From  the  very  begin- 
ning they  sank  their  roots  deep  into  municipal  life.  They  asked 
for  and  received  long  leases  of  corporate  existence.  Sometimes 
the  franchises  granted  were  perpetual.  In  other  cases  they  ex- 
tended over  periods  of  from  thirty  to  sixty  and  eighty  years.  Too 
often  the  franchises,  themselves,  were  drawn  up  by  the  skillful 
lawyers  of  the  public  service  corporations. 

There  could  be  but  one  outcome  of  such  conditions.  Before 
long,  street  car  companies  possessed  unrestricted  right  to  lay 
their  rails  in  every  street,  to  cross  all  bridges,  and  even  to  regu- 
late their  own  fares.  Electric  light  and  gas  companies  put  their 
poles  and  piping  where  they  pleased,  while  water  companies  laid 
along  public  thoroughfares  mains  that  the  average  fire  engine  can 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  33 

drink  dry.  The  citizens  made  no  complaint.  Very  few  of  them 
reaHzed  the  importance  of  such  proceedings.  The  majority  did 
not  even  know  what  was  going  on. 

A  second  stage  in  the  development  of  public  service  corpora- 
tions was  soon  reached.  With  the  marvelous  growth  of  the  city 
rival  companies  appeared.  The  shorter  termed  franchises  began 
to  expire,  and  the  city  councilmen  were  waking  up  to  the  fact  that 
corporate  franchises  possess  intrinsic  value  just  the  same  as  the 
best  commercial  paper.  The  period  that  followed  was  a  time  of 
spoils :  councilmen  sold  privileges  left  and  right,  in  return  for  the 
price  paid,  public  service  corporations  occupied  all  streets,  set 
their  own  standards  of  service  and  named  their  own  rates.  The 
amount  of  money  which  citizens  lost  during  this  era  of  exor- 
l)itant  charges  and  abominable  service  can  never  be  accurately 
estimated. 

Even  as  grcit  as  were  the  financial  losses,  the  political  abuses 
which  arose  were  more  stupendous.  Naturally,  as  the  emolu- 
ments of  municipal  offices,  especially  council  seats,  grew  larger, 
the  strife  for  such  positions  became  fiercer.  The  ward  boss  was 
soon  the  dominating  factor  in  city  politics.  He  could  name  the 
councilmen  from  his  district. 

Looking  back  into  that  period,  the  result  seems  natural.  The 
ward  boss  usually  had  a  definite  understanding  with  corporation 
promoters.  If  for  any  reason  the  city  council  was  not  willing 
to  grant  the  necessary  franchises,  it  was  not  a  great  step  to  the 
state  legislature.  The  growth  of  the  party  system  in  America 
made  the  state  law-making  body  the  next  logical  unit  of  political 
structure.  The  ward  boss  was  quick  to  carry  his  appeals  to  this 
higher  unit.  Thus  were  municipal  affairs  ruthlessly  mixed  with 
state  and  even  national  politics.  On  the  floor  of  the  legislature 
there  were  always  those  willing  to  protect  the  "vested  rights"  of 
any  corporation.  Many  were  there  who  voted  on  all  occasions 
for  the  party's  sake.  Acts  hostile  to  individual  cities  were 
passed.  Special  legislation  became  a  common  method  of  proce- 
dure. This  is  not  hard  to  understand  when  we  recollect  that  it  is 
the  legislative  body  that  sets  forth  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  city.  Thus  if  a  certain  municipality  happened  to  be  uncom- 
promisingly opposed  to  public  utility  companies,  it  was  not  diffi- 


34  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

cult  for  the  legislature  to  enact  a  special  measure  applying  to  that 
particular  city,  and  regulating  terms  upon  which  the  munic- 
ipality should  deal  with  the  corporations.  It  was  the  same  pub- 
lic service  evil  that  existed  in  the  preceding  era  of  the  municipal 
growth,  only  it  had  now  grown  more  complex. 

It  is  from  the  period  just  described — an  era  of  corporate  and 
boss  domination — that  the  American  people  are  just  emerging. 
Especially  is  this  true  in  the  middle  west.  Only  now  are  citizens 
beginning  to  appreciate  what  it  means  to  have  public  service  cor- 
porations under  legitimate  control.  As  a  result,  reformers  are 
searching  everywhere  for  methods  of  supervision.  Every  kind 
of  scheme  is  being  suggested,  but  it  has  remained  for  the  state 
administrative  board  to  offer  practical  and  feasible  means. 

The  idea  of  controlling  public  utility  corporations  by  a  state 
administrative  commission  is  not  new.  In  1898  Massachusetts 
created  a  board  to  supervise  the  street  railways  of  the  common- 
wealth. Other  states  have  enacted  similar  measures,  some  pas- 
sively, others  aggressively.  The  power  of  the  commissions  has 
gradually  been  extended.  Wisconsin  reached  a  maximum  point 
of  expansion  in  1907,  when  it  created  a  board  that  has  regulation 
of  all  municipal  lighting,  heating,  power,  transportation,  and  tele- 
phone companies.  Not  only  in  the  middle  west,  but  all  over  the 
country  these  commissions  are  being  created. 

In  organization  the  board  is  simple.  It  is  composed  of  a 
small  body  of  men  selected  with  reference  to  fitness  rather  than 
political  preferment.  Salaries  are  made  commensurate  with  the 
quality  of  work  demanded.  An  investigation  of  the  personnel 
of  commissions  that  have  already  been  created  shows  that  when 
care  is  exercised  in  appointments,  men  who  have  real  ability  and 
who  possess  a  broad  knowledge  of  city  affairs  can  be  secured. 

Although  the  commission  is  simple  in  structure,  its  powers 
and  responsibilities  are  large.  It  strikes  right  at  the  heart  of 
the  public  utility  problem.  The  commission  asserts  its  authority 
to  fix  the  valuation  of  the  physical  property  of  every  municipal 
lighting,  heating,  power,  transportation,  and  telephone  company. 
Methods  of  corporation  accounting  are  prescribed  by  this  board, 
and  to  it  the  various  corporations  must  make  stipulated  financial 
reports.       It  can  adjust  and  fix  the  rates  that  companies  may 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  -         35 

charge.  It  can  establish  and  enforce  a  strmgent  standard  of 
service.  The  authority  of  the  commission  is  subject  only  to  re^ 
view  by  the  courts. 

It  is  seen  at  a  glance  what  a  great  factor  for  good  or  evil 
such  a  commission  is.  The  result  can  scarcely  be  over-estimated. 
If  persons  susceptible  to  corporate  influence  should  be  placed  up- 
on the  board,  the  injury  would  be  enormous.  If  it  is  dominated 
by  men  who  have  the  real  welfare  of  the  city  at  heart,  its  pow- 
er for  good  is  equally  great. 

There  are  definite  reasons  for  believing  that  these  state 
boards  will  be  honest  and  efficient.  Among  the  influences  which 
will  work  to  keep  the  commissioners  obedient  to  popular  will 
is  the  power  of  publicity.  Under  a  state  commission  all  dealings 
with  corporations  are  between  the  companies  and  the  commis- 
sion direct.  Hence,  if  a  politician  wishes  to  ply  his  trade  in  the 
interest  of  the  public  service  corporation,  he  will  have  to  do  so 
in  the  open.  He  will  have  to  deal  with  a  select  body  which  is 
itself  always  in  the  lime-light.  Hitherto,  the  politician  has 
dealt  with  a  questionable  city  council,  or  an  indefinite,  intangible 
.state  legislature.  Under  state  administrative  control  all  this  is 
changed.  There  are  no  partizan  promises  to  be  remembered, 
no  party  pledges  *to  be  kept.  It  is  true  the  power  of  money  is 
still  available  to  the  corporation,  but  the  very  fact  that  the  com- 
missioners are  continually  subject  to  public  scrutiny,  as  well  as  to 
surveillance  of  city  councils,  will  make  any  member  hesitate  a. 
long  time  before  accepting  corporation  money. 

It  would  seem  that  under  the  proposed  plan  the  scheme  of 
secret  rate  making  is  doomed.  The  matter  is  put  on  a  business 
basis  with  adequate  publicity.  Corporations  are  compelled  to 
adopt  genuine  business  methods.  Their  books  are  opened  to 
a  reasonable  inspection  by  proper  pubHc  officials.  Their  rates, 
their  service,  their  very  corporate  existence  are  dependent  upon 
the  legitimacy  with  which  they  conduct  their  affairs.  Secret 
rate  making  under  such  circumstances  is  nearly  impossible. 

Theoretically,  a  state  administrative  board  is  sound.  Experi- 
ence has  already  shown  its  actual  operation  to  be  beneficial. 
Yet  there  is  in  the  middle  west  a  lively  opposition  to  it.     This 


36  COAIMISSTOX    PLAX    OF 

antagonism  comes  from  an  unexpected  quarter,  that  is,  from  the 
cities  themselves. 

The  reason  why  cities  are  opposing  a  state  commission  is 
not  difficult  to  explain.  The  continual  struggle  for  more  local 
self-government,  and  the  battle  against  special  legislation  from 
which  the  city  is  just  emerging,  have  made  municipal  authorities 
suspicious  of  any  measure  which  the  state  legislature  desires  to 
enact.  To  man}^  the  creation  of  a  state  administrative  board 
appears  but  a  further  development  l)y  the  legislature  of  a  well 
defined  system  of  political  patronage.  It  will  furnish  a  few 
more  offices  for  ward  bosses  and  meddling  politicians,  and  that 
is  all.  But  what  seems  to  opponents  of  the  idea  infinitely  worse 
than  political  jobbery  is  that  the  scheme  would  deprive  the  city 
of  what  little  self-government  it  already  possesses.  The  munic- 
ipality would  be  bound  hand  and   foot  to  the  state  legislature. 

With  all  due  regard  for  the  sincerity  with  which  cities  are 
resisting  the  supposed  encroachment  of  the  state  administrative 
commission,  it  must  be  admitted  that  their  view  is  short  sighted. 
They  are  not  considering  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  state  as  it 
actually  exists.  State  commissions  are  not  being  established 
to  furnish  political  offices,  or  to  deprive  the  city  of  its  powers, 
but  because  there  is  a  state-wide  belief  that  municipal  conditions 
must  be  improved.  Bitter  experience  has  led  the  public  to  be 
skeptical  and  cynical  in  regard  to  municipal  service.  There  is 
but  one  course  for  cities  to  pursue.  Instead  of  asking  for  in- 
creased powers  of  government,  municipalities  should  first  re- 
move the  general  impression  of  mismanagement  and  graft.  The 
state  commission  offers  a  way  to  do  this,  and  if  it  is  accomplished, 
the  public  will  be  far  more  likely  to  listen  to  the  request  for 
additional  self-government.  People  wish  to  be  assured  that 
city  affairs  are  managed  honestly ;  that  the  citizens,  and  not 
public  service  companies,  are  reaping  the  benefits  of  its  laws. 
When  convinced  that  cities  are  ably  conducted,  voters  will  not 
long  withhold  from  municipalities  the  additional  powers  that 
they  are  to-day  seeking.  It  is  popular  sentiment  which  regards 
the  city  as  inefficient  and  corrupt  that  is  tying  the  municipality 
hand  and  foot,  and  not  the  state  legislature. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  2>7 

The  city  should  awake  to  this  situation.  It  should  not 
strike  blindly  at  such  measures  as  a  state  administrative  com- 
mission simply  because  on  the  surface  there  are  indications  that 
such  a  body  might  usurp  municipal  powers.  The  state  board 
offers  a  sensible  solution  for  present  difficulties.  It  promises 
to  put  the  public  service  corporation  on  a  sound  business  footing. 
This  would  be  a  decided  step  forward.  The  problem  of  city 
government  would  be  immeasurably  simplified,  and  new  ways 
v/ould  be  opened  for  municipal  improvement. 

City  Commission 

The  second  innovation  in  the  middle  west  is  the  commission 
plan  of  city  government.  This  plan,  which  was  first  put  into 
operation  at  Galveston,  Texas,  after  the  storm  of  1900,  is  spread- 
ing with  remarkable  rapidity.  No  other  form  in  American  mu- 
nicipal development  has  grown  so  rapidly.  Although  it  is  being 
adopted  by  both  Pacific  and  Atlantic  cities,  it  is  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  that  the  new  form  is  meeting  with  most  favor 
and  is   being  tried  in  the  greatest  variety  of   ways. 

The  underlying  principles  of  the  new  idea  are  easy  to  under- 
stand. Provision  is  made  for  the  election  of  a  comparatively 
small  body  of  men,  called  commissioners.  Up  to  the  present 
time  the  number  has  not  exceeded  five,  although  proposed  plans 
which  some  of  the  larger  cities  are  considering  provide  for 
more  governing  officials.  The  main  object,  however,  is  that  the 
number  of  commissioners  shall  be  so  small  that  citizens  can 
center  individual  responsibility  both  in  case  of  meritorious  work 
and  of  incompetency. 

Candidates  for  the  office  of  commissioner  arc  nominated  at  a 
iion-partizan  primary  1)_\-  direct  ballot.  There  <'rc  no  precedinji, 
caucuses,  and  no  party  lines  of  any  kind.  There  is  no  election 
from  wards.  In  place  of  these  is  the  primary  vote.  x\ny  citizen 
who  files  a  petition  with  a  stipulated  number  of  signatures — 
usually  a  small  number — may  have  his  name  printed  on  the 
primary  ballot.  The  results  of  this  vote  are  tabulated,  and  candi- 
dates to  be  voted  upon  at  the  regular  election  chosen.  Thus  if 
five  commissioners  are  to  be  selected,  the  ten  names  receiving  the 


',.» 


38  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

highest   number   of   votes   at  the   primary  are   placed   upon  the 
regular  election  ballot. 

One  of  the  five  commissioners  is  called  the  mayor.  Some- 
times he  is  elected  separately  from  the  other  commissioners, 
although  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  mayor  to  preside  over  meetings  of  the  commis- 
sion in  much  the  same  way  as  do  executives  of  our  city  councils. 
He  may  or  may  not  have  veto  power. 

There  are  fundamental  differences,  however,  between  the 
commission  form  and  the  ordinary  mayor  and  council  system. 
The  commissioners  devote  their  entire  time  to  governing  the  city. 
They  make  it  their  business.  They  meet  in  daily  sessions.  They 
receive  annual  salaries  ranging  from  $1,500  to  $3,000  in  cities 
where  the  mayor  and  councilmen  formerly  received  but  one  or 
two  hundred  dollars.  Another  differentiating  feature  is  in  ad- 
ministration. If  there  are  five  commissioners,  the  work  of  ad- 
ministration is  divided  into  five  departments.  These  departments 
are  arranged  to  suit  the  particular  needs  of  individual  cities,  but 
generally  include  such  divisions  as  a  Department  of  Public  Safe- 
ty, which  embraces  the  police  and  fire  organizations,  a  Depart- 
ment of  Finance,  a  Department  of  Streets  and  Alleys,  a  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Health,  and  a  Department  of  Parks  and  Public 
Improvements.  If  the  city  is  a  seaport,  there  is  usually  a  Depart- 
ment of  Docks  and  Wharfs.  At  the  head  of  each  department 
one  of  the  commissioners  is  placed.  He  has  full  charge  of  the 
department  and  is  held  personally  accountable  for  the  conduct 
of  it.  Such  a  method  secures  individual  responsibility.  If  there 
is  anything  wrong  in  a  given  department,  citizens  can  go  to  the 
commissioner  in  charge  and  ascertain  the  cause.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  a  department  is  managed  with  efficiency  and  integrity, 
citizens  likewise  know  upon  whom  to  bestow  credit.  Even 
though  one  of  his  subordinates  be  at  fault,  the  commissioner 
cannot  shift  responsibility;  it  is  his  business  to  see  that  those 
under  him  perform  their  services  honestly  and  intelligently. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  plan  of  the  administration.  In  some 
municipalities  the  central  features  have  already  been  supple- 
mented by  additional  measures.  For  instance,  uniform  accounting 
in  the  various  departments  is  generally  insisted  upon.     In  other 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  39 

cities,  commissioners  must  publish  a,  monthly  detailed  statement 
of  the  condition  of  each  department  and  of  the  city  as  a  whole. 
These  statements  are  issued  in  pamphlet  form  and  are  given  to 
any  citizen  free  of  charge. 

Another  radical  difference  between  the  mayor  and  council 
system  and  the  commission  form  is  in  legislation.  Up  to  a  com- 
paratively recent  time,  it  was  accepted  as  axiomatic  even 
in  city  government,  that  those  who  do  the  administering  should 
not  do  the  legislating.  In  fact,  the  line  of  cleavage  has  always 
been  between  the  legislative  and  administrative  departments. 
The  commission  form  upsets  this  idea.  It  turns  matters  of  ad- 
ministration and  legislation  over  to  one  body  of  men — the  com- 
missioners. Every  day  these  officers  meet  in  joint  session.  Af- 
fairs of  the  city  are  discussed,  and  all  needed  legislation  is  passed 
by  them.  It  is  at  these  meetings  that  we  see  a  great  contrast 
between  the  new  idea  and  the  old  council  system.  Instead  of 
having  business  reported  by  committees  and  sub-committees,  it  is 
considered  directly  by  the  commissioners  themselves.  Each  of- 
ficer is  in  constant  touch  with  his  own  department.  He  knows 
just  what  legislation  is  needed  for  it.  Hence  there  is  no  occasion 
to  resort  to  a  clumsy  and  inefficient  committee  in  order  to  obtain 
information  upon  any  given  point. 

For  a  city,  such  a  manner  of  conducting  legislation  has  great 
advantages.  It  is  direct.  There  are  no  confusing  committees 
and  boards  to  scatter  responsibility.  It  is  also  rapid.  Five  men, 
each  of  whom  thoroughly  understands  his  work,  can  pass  more 
intelligent  legislation  in  one  short  sitting  than  an  uninformed 
and  hesitating  council  will  get  through  in  a  week's  time. 

The  commission  secures  responsibility  and  efficiency.  It  is 
also  economic.  Responsibility  is  procured  by  centering  individ- 
ual obligation  upon  each  commissioner  as  the  head  of  a  depart- 
ment. Efficiency  follows  as  a  consequence.  In  Des  Moines, 
after  the  adoption  of  the  plan,  a  number  of  influential  citizens 
went  to  Commissioner  Hamery,  in  charge  of  the  Department 
of  Public  Safety.  They  told  him  he  was  responsible  for  the 
abominable  conditions  existing  in  the  red  light  district,  and  that 
he  would  be  held  personally  accountable  for  future  conditions. 
The  result  was  that  the  whole  objectionable  section  was  abolished. 


OF   THE    - 

UNIVERSITY 


40  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

Responsibility  had  been   obtained.     As   soon   as   it   was   secured, 
efficiency  was  not  long  delayed. 

It  might  seem  upon  first  glance  that  paying  large  salaries 
to  these  commissioners  would  add  to  the  already  enormous  debt 
of  the  average  city.  But  this  has  not  been  the  case.  Through 
greater  simplicity  in  organization,  and  the  adoption  of  business 
methods,  commissioners  have,  in  almost  every  case,  been  able 
to  save  annually  for  the  city  amounts  far  in  excess  of  their  own 
salaries.  In  addition  they  have  secured  better  service  than  for- 
me rl  v. 


This  movement  in  the  middle  west  is  concerned  with  nothing 
less  than  the  underlying  features  of  the  two  great  problems  of 
city  government :  the  relation  of  the  city  to  the  state ;  and  the  re- 
lation of  the  city  to  its  individual  citizens.  If  through  the  stale 
administrative  commission,  the  citizens  who  are  back  of  this  agi- 
tation can  establish  a  reasonable  relationship  between  the  state 
and  the  city,  and  if  by  means  of  the  city  commission  they  can  se- 
cure to  the  individual  citizen  a  responsible  and  efficient  govern- 
ment, they  will  indeed  have  done  much  toward  solving  one  of  the 
greatest  economic  and  political  problems  that  confront  the  Ameri- 
can people  today. 

National   Municipal   League,  Proceedings   of  the  Providence 
Conference  for  Good  City  Government,  1907.  pp.  142-55. 

Galveston  Plan  of  City  Government.     William  Bennett  Munro. 

Galveston,  as  is  well  known,  was  the  first  American  city  to 
give  the  system  of  "government  by  commission"  a  trial.  .  .  .  The 
old  municipal  framework  was  abolished  root  and  branch,  and  by 
a  new  charter,  granted  in  1901,  the  administration  of  the  city 
was  entrusted  to  five  commissioners,  three  of  whom  were  to  be 
appointed  by  the  governor  and  two  elected  by  the  citizens  of 
Galveston.  Before  long,  however,  the  constitutionality  of  the 
charter  was  called  into  guestion,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Texas  decided   that   certain    functions   which   the   commissioners 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  41 

had  been  authorized  to  assume  could  not  be  exercised  except 
by  elective  officers.  In  March,  1903,  therefore,  the  legislature 
was  appealed  to  for  an  amendment  to  the  charter  making  all  the 
commissioners  elective,  and  the  hve  original  commissioners  were 
forthwith  endorsed  by  the  voters  at  the  polls. 

The  Galveston  charter,  amended  in  1903,  provides  for  the 
popular  election,  every  two  years,  of  five  commissioners,  one  of 
whom  is  given  the  title  of  mayor-president.  All  are  elected  at 
large.  The  mayor-president  is  presiding  officer  o^  th~e  commis- 
sion  but  otherwise  has  no  special  powers.  By  a  majority  vote 
of  the  five  commissioners  all  municipal  ordinances  are  passed, 
and  all  appropriations  are  voted,  the  mayor-president  having  no 
right  to  veto  either  absolute  or  qualified.  The  commissioners 
likewise,  by  majority  vote,  apportion  among  themselves  the  head- 
ships of  the  four  main  departments  of  civic  administration, 
namely,  finance  and  revenue,  waterworks  and  sewerage,  police 
and  fire  protection,  and  streets  and  public  property;  the  mayor- 
president  having  no  special  department  but  exercising  a  general 
coordinating  influence  over  all.  A  single  commissioner  is,  there- 
fore, immediately  responsible  for  the  administration  of  each 
department.  The  cominission  as  a  whole  draws  up  and  passes 
the  annual  budget,  awards  all  contracts,  and  makes  all  important 
appointments.  Minor  appointments  are  made  by  the  individual 
commissioners  each  in  his  own  special  department.  There  is 
throughout  a  complete  centralization  of  all  powers,  legislative 
and  administrative,  and  a  very  definite  location  of  all  respon- 
sibility. 

No  one  who  has  made  any  impartial  attempt  to  follow  the 
work  of  the  Galveston  commission  during  the  last  six  years  will 
venture  to  gainsay  its  very  striking  success.  The  financial 
condition  of  the  city  has  been  most  decidedly  improved  ;  all  the 
municipal  services  have  been  brought  to  a  much  higher  point  of 
efficiency;  a  better  grade  of  citizens  has  been  willing  to  seek 
and  accept  civic  office;  and  the  general  tone  of  municipal  ad- 
ministration has  been  very  noticeably  raised.  The  commissioners 
present,  in  their  reports,  such  a  convincing  array  of  facts  that 
it  would  be  idle  to  question  the  success  of  the  new  regime.  The 
success  has  been  attributable  in  general  to  three  or  four  canons 


42  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

of  policy,  from  which  the  commissioners  have  not  swerved  dur- 
ing the  last  five  years,  and  which  may  be  summed  up  as  (i)  the 
use  of  approved  business  methods  in  civic  financing;  (2)  the 
entire  elimination  of  all  leakages  in  expenditures ;  (3)  the 
making  of  all -appointments  on  the  basis  of  individual  efficiency; 
and  (4)  the  strict  accountability  of  each  commissioner  for  the 
on-goings  of  his  own  department.  All  the  improvements  of  the 
last  half  decade  in  the  Texas  city  can  be  attributed,  substantially, 
to  the  fact  that  the  new  system  of  government  has  rendered 
strict  adherence  to  these  fundamental  rules  of  sound  municipal 
administration    possible    and    even    imperative. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  any  detail  of  specific  ad- 
vantages made  in  municipal  administration  by  Galveston  under 
the  system  of  government  by  commission.  It  is  enough  that 
these  were  readily  noted  by  neighboring  Texan  cities,  and  that 
the  latter  soon  bestirred  themselves  to  the  task  of  inaugurating 
a  similar  framework  of  administration.*  Since  1903,  charters 
fundamentally  similar  to  that  of  Galveston  have  been  sought 
and  obtained  by  five  other  cities  of  Texas :  Houston,  Fort  Worth, 
Austin,  Dallas,  and  El  Paso.  The  experience,  moreover,  was  not 
lost  upon  many  cities  in  the  North,  and  during  the  last  two 
or  three  years,  measures  have  been  introduced  into  the  legis- 
latures of  at  least  a  dozen  states  all  aiming  to  permit  cities  to 
simplify  their  framework  of  administration  more  or  less  gen- 
erally in  accord  with  the  Texan  plan.  At  its  last  session  the 
Legislature  of  Iowa  put  such  a  measure  upon  the  statute  books, 
rendering  optional  to  all  cities  of  over  25,000  population  the 
adoption  of  the  commission  system.  This  privilege  has  already 
found  acceptance  in  the  capital  city  of  Des  Moines;  in  this  case 
provision  being  made  for  the  employment  of  certain  advanced 
methods  of  securing  the  strict  and  consistent  responsibility  of 
the  authorities  to  their  constituents. 

Despite  a  general  impression  that  the  commission  system 
of  local  administration  is  a  novelty  in  American  government,  the 
principle  involved  is  by  no  means  new  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  in  almost  no  important  respect  different  from  the  New  Eng- 
land system  of  town  government  by  a  board  of  selectmen,  who, 
with   their  chairman,   assume   and  concentrate   in  themselves   all 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  43 

administrative  and  legislative  functions  from  one  annual  elec- 
tion until  the  next.  There  are  many  New  England  "towns"  with 
populations  quite  large  enough  to  entitle  them  to  rank  as  cities, 
which  have,  for  more  than  a  century,  maintained  what  is  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  system  of  government  by  commission. 
Their  selectmen,  who  are  chosen  by  the  people  at  large,  repre- 
sent in  their  jurisdiction  a  complete  fusion  of  local  power  and 
responsibility.  In  every  state  of  the  Union,  moreover  (with 
the  exception  of  Louisiana  and  Rhode  Island),  county  admin- 
istration has  been  vested  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of  an  elec- 
tive commission.  The  use  of  the  term  "commission"  has  mis- 
led many  into  overlooking  a  system  with  which  they  have  been 
long  familiar  under  a  different  designation.  American  cities 
have  had  occasion,  no  doubt,  to  become  familiar  with  "commis- 
sions" but  with  commissions  of  a  very  different  sort. 

No  aspect  of  the  general  problem  of  municipal  reform  has 
received  more  attentiorf  by  the  press  and  on  the  platform  during 
the  last  year  than  the  merits  and  defects  of  the  commission  plan. 
In  the  main,  however,  these  discussions  have  dwelt  largely  upon 
the  advantages  of  the  system,  many  of  which  are  almost  too 
obvious  to  require  emphasis.  The  defects,  on  the  other  hand,  do 
not  appear  on  the  surface  so  plainly,  though  a  closer  examina- 
tion will  disclose  that  the  system  of  government  by  commission, 
if  generally  applied  to  American  cities  under  present  conditions, 
would  in  all  probability  encounter  important  objections  which 
no  real  friend  of  permanent  municipal  reform  ought  to  treat 
lightly.  Some  of  these  relative  merits  and  defects  may  be  brief- 
ly noticed,  so  far  as  it  may  be  accounted  safe  to  generalize  in 
the  light  of  American  municipal  experience. 

The  cardinal  advantage  of  the  system  is  that  it  affords  defi- 
nite hope  of  putting  an  end  to  the  intolerable  decentralization  of 
responsibility  which  now  characterizes  American  civic  adminis- 
tration. By_concenX]:atiiTgL_powers  and  focusing  public  attention 
up^n  a  narrow  area  it  will  render  more  effective  the  scrutiny 
which  the  voters  may  apply  to  the  conduct  of  men  in  phblic 
omce!  ii  the  system  does  not  guarantee  efficient  administra- 
tion, it  at  least  promises  to  disclose  where  the  blame  for  in- 
efficiency should  be  made  to  fall.     It  will  undoubtedly  facilitate 


44  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  election  of  a  higher  type  of  men,  for  American  municipal 
experience  has  plainly  demonstrated  that  small  bodies  with  large 
powers  attract  a  better  class  of  citizens  than  large  bodies  with 
restricted  jurisdiction.  The  reduction  in  numbers  of  the  school 
boards  of  St.  Louis,  Boston,  and  other  large  cities  has  served 
to  show  the  truth  of  this  aphorism  in  conclusive  fashion.  Even 
though  party  organizations  may  continue  to  dictate  the  nomina- 
tion of  commissioners,  as  they  now  do  that  of  councilmen,  these 
organizations  will  no  longer  be  placed  under  pressure  to  give 
Tepfesentation  to  every  sectional,  racial,  and  religious  interest 
at  the  cost  of  placing  inferior  men  in  candidacy.  That  govern- 
ment by  commission  will  eliminate  partisan  candidatures  is  some- 
thing scarcely  to  be  hoped  for;  but  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  it  would  remove  from  party  organizations  much  of 
the  sinister  pressure  with  which  these  have  now  to  contend. 

Again,  it  is  well  known  that  municipal  corruption  nowadays 
arises  as  frequently  from  the  power  of  municipal  authorities  to 
thwart  the  meritorious  plans  of  public-service  corporations  as 
from  their  power  to  forward  reprehensible  projects.  If  the 
present  system  of  checks  and  balances  puts  a  restriction  upon  the 
ill-considered  granting  away  of  privileges,  it  none  the  less  puts 
a  premium  upon  the  withholding  of  rights  which  should,  in  all 
public  interest,  be  granted  without  hesitation.  It  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  the  chances  of  obtaining  a  municipal  franchise 
at  the  present  time  in  any  large  city  are  properly  proportioned 
to  the  merits  of  an  application  therefor.  A  small  commission 
would,  indeed,  simplify  the  task  of  dealing  with  civic  franchises 
on  a  business  basis,  and,  if  there  be  any  fear  that  the  unchecked 
power  of  granting  municipal  franchises  is  a  jurisdiction  too 
momentous  to  be  vested  in  the  hands  of  a  small  body,  provision 
may  be  made,  as  in  the  Des  Moines  charter,  for  having  the  acts 
of  the  commission  in  this  sphere  subject  to  ratification  by  the 
voters.    , 

Still  again,  as  we  are  frequently  reminded,  the  work  of  ad- 
ministering the  affairs  of  a  city  is  in  every  essential  respect  akin 
to  that  of  conducting  the  affairs  of  a  private  business  corporation. 
Now  the  salient  characteristics  of  sound  corporate  management  is 
the  centralization   of  powers  in  the  hands  of  a   small  board  of 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  .       45 

directors.  What,  we  are  asked,  would  be  thought  of  a  busi- 
ness corporation  which  intrusted  the  management  of  its  in- 
terests to  a  bicameral  board,  made  up  of  classes  of  members 
selected  in  different  ways,  representing  different  interests,  pos- 
sessing separate  jurisdictions,  and  designed  to  embody  a  system 
of  checks  and  balances?  Why  should  the  affairs  of  a  municipal- 
ity demand  an  administrative  machinery  so  much  more  complex 
than  that  of  the  largest  private  corporation?  There  is  danger, 
however,  of  pressing  this  point  too  far,  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  analogy  1-etween  the  work  of  the  municipal  and 
that  of  the  private  corporation  is  by  no  means  perfect.  The  city, 
for  example,  enjoys  many  legal  privileges  and  immunities  which 
an  ordinary  business  corporation  does  not  possess.  It  is 
not  legally  responsible  for  the  torts  of  its  police  officers,  of 
the  employes  of  its  fire  department,  or  for  those  of  several 
other  classes  of  its  agents ;  whereas  the  private  corporation  is 
directly  liable  to  be  heavily  mulcted  for  the  negligence  or  in- 
efficiency of  those  whom  it  takes  into  its  service.  Further- 
more, in  determining  matters  of  policy  the  authorities  of  a 
municipality  must  give  weight  to  many  considerations  of  social 
well-being  which  the  management  of  a  private  corporation  may 
afford  to  neglect.  It  must  be  admitted,  too,  that  administration 
by  a  board  of  directors  is  not  necessarily  synonymous  with  integ- 
rity and  efficiency.  One  need  not  go  far  afield  to  find  instances 
in  which  directors  have  been  deficient  in  their  knowledge  of  af- 
fairs immediately  in  their  care,  or  in  which  they  have  personally 
profited  at  the  expense  of  those  interests  which  they  were  cho- 
sen to  guard.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  said  with  truth  that  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  the  infusion  of  "business  principles"  into 
civic  administration,  and  the  analogy,  if  not  pushed  too  far, 
has  much  force. 

The  system  of  government  by  commission  will  serve  to 
render  municipal  administration  more  prompt  and  more  effective 
in  action.  In  a  multitude  of  counsellors  there  may  be  wisdom, 
but  there  is  also,  almost  inevitably,  friction,  delay,  and  intriguery. 
A  system  of  division  of  powers  is  almost  certain  to  counter- 
balance what  it  gains  in  security  against  hasty  and  arbitrary  ac- 
tion  what    it    loses    in    inability   to    cope    with    problems    which 


^6  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

demand  prompt,  united  and  uncompromising  attention.  In  local 
administration  promptness  and  efficiency  are  imperative ;  and 
it  may  be  properly  urged  that,  in  order  to  secure  these  essential 
qualities,  a  municipality  is  justified  in  weakening  its  organs  of 
deliberation  and  in  assuming  a  reasonable  amount  of  risk  that 
concentrated  power  will  be  abused. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  many  incidental  advantages  which 
cities  may  reasonably  hope  to  secure  from  the  introduction  of  the 
commission  system,  and  to  these  the  experience  of  Galveston  bears 
abundant  testimony.  Most  of  these,  however,  are  relative  to  the 
existing  conditions  in  particular  cities,  and  may  not,  therefore, 
be  dealt  with  in  general  terms. 

To  the  casual  student  the  defects  of  the  commission  system 
are,  perhaps,  not  so  apparent  as  the  merits.  They  exist,  never- 
theless, and  are  of  sufficient  importance  to  demand  careful  and 
judicious  consideration;  for  the  cause  of  municipal  reform  may 
receive  permanent  injury  through  the  open  advocacy  by  its 
friends  of  any  plan  of  administration  which  has  not  been  ade- 
quately studied  in  the  light  of  conditions  which  now  exist  or  are 
likely  to  exist  in  American  cities. 

The  most  common  objections  urged  in  the  public  press  and 
by  the  rank  and  file  of  municipal  politicians  is  that  the  plan 
is  un-American  and  undemocratic ;  that  it  involves  a  radical 
departure  from  American  traditions  of  local  self-government  and 
proposes  a  step  in  the  direction  of  municipal  dictatorships.  This 
objection  is  as  easy  to  raise  as  it  is  difficult  to  support.  The 
present  framework  of  municipal  administration,  with  its  division 
of  powers,  is  not  a  whit  more  traditionally  "American"  than  is 
the  New  England  town  system  of  government  by  a  board  of 
selectmen  with  no  division  of  powers  whatever.  That  the  system  of 
administration  by  a  small  body  of  men  tends  to  remove  control 
"away  from  the  people"  is  an  assertion  which  the  whole  history 
of  local  government  in  the  United  States  absolutely  refutes.  In- 
deed, it  has  been  proven  time  and  again  that  a  single  elective 
officer  may,  in  his  official  actions,  more  faithfully  reflect  public 
opinion  than  a  large  body  of  elected  representatives.  Much 
of  the  latent  and  unreasoning  prejudice  against  the  new  plan 
springs,   no   doubt,    from   the  popular  association   of   the   "com- 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  47 

mission"  with  the  idea  of  state  interference  in  municipal  matters. 

The  observant  De  Tocqueville  once  remarked  that  local 
government  is  to  national  v^hat  the  elementary  school  is  to  the 
university;  that  each  in  its  respective  sphere  performs  the 
work  of  preparation.  Political  education,  it  has  been  ob- 
served, consists  in  the  exercise  not  only  of  the  right  to  choose 
but  of  the  right  to  be  chosen — in  candidacy  and  in  service — and 
under  the  present  municipal  regime  such  education  is  annually 
afforded  to  a  large  number  of  citizens.  The  plan  of  government 
by  commission  proposes  greatly  to  reduce  this  number.  It  would 
cut  down  the  list  of  elective  officers  to  four  or  five,  all  other 
posts  being  filled  by  appointment  presumably  for  long  terms. 
This  policy,  it  is  objected,  would  tend  to  vest  the  work  of  civic 
administration  permanently  in  the  hands  of  a  very  few  men, 
and  might  very  well  assist  in  the  development,  as  in  the  German 
cities,  of  a  professional  city  bureaucracy.  The  present  multi- 
plication of  elective  officers  affords,  to  a  unique  degree,  the  op- 
portunity for  a  large  number  of  citizens  to  be  brought  into 
touch  with  local  political  affairs  and  to  obtain  such  political 
education  as  this  contact  involves. 

Again,  objection  is  made  that  the  system  will  serve  to 
strengthen  rather  than  to  weaken  the  influence  of  the  regular 
partisan  organizations  in  civic  affairs.  The  concentration  of 
power  and  patronage  in  the  hands  of  a  few  commissioners  would, 
it  is  claimed,  make  it  seem  imperative  to  the  party  leaders  that 
the  commission  should  be  controlled ;  and  the  party  energies,  now 
spread  over  a  wider  area,  would 'thus  be  concentrated  at  a  single 
point.  It  is  quite  true  whenever  the  power  and  the  patronage  of 
the  mayor  have  been  extended  the  result  has  not  been  to  diminish 
the  force  of  partisanship  in  mayoralty  elections ;  on  the  contrary, 
party  leaders  have  been  impelled  to  make  more  energetic  cam- 
paigns and  to  perfect  their  organizations  in  order  that  they  might 
control  an  office  which  had  become  the  more  valuable  to  them. 
Furthermore,  the  election  of  four  or  five  commissioners  by  the 
voters  at  large  would,  in  all  probability,  result  in  selections 
from  the  ranks  of  a  single  party;  the  dominant  party  could  in 
most  cases  elect  its  whole  slate,  and  the  minority  party  would 
in  consequence  be  wholly  unrepresented.    There  might,  no  doubt. 


48  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

be  frequent  exceptions  to  this,  but  it  would  be  the  more  usual 
outcome.  On  the  other  hand,  a  large  council,  the  members  of 
which  are  elected  by  small  districts,  will  almost  certainly  con- 
tain representatives  of  the  weaker  political  party.  Much  of 
the  hopes  placed  upon  the  new  system  arise  from  the  proposal 
that  commissioners  shall  be  elected  at  large;  but  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  plan  of  election  at  large  is  not  without 
its  counterbalancing  defects. 

It  has,  perhaps,  been  characteristic  of  the  American  voter 
that  he  is  prone  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the  form  of 
government  and  too  little  upon  its  personnel.  He  is  not  always 
quick  to  see  that  the  more  efficient  administration  of  European 
cities  results  not  at  all  from  their  superior  framework  of  local 
government,  but  from  the  higher  calibre  of  men  who  seek  and 
obtain  municipal  office.  Without  a  change  of  personnel,  the 
substitution  of  government  by  commission  for  the  existing  sys- 
tem would  assuredly  avail  but  little.  Indeed,  a  corrupt  or  an 
inefficient  commission  with  wide  powers  would  be  much  more 
capable  of  injuring  the  best  interests  of  a  city  than  an  equally 
corrupt  or  inefficient  set  of  administrative  organs  with  powers 
and  patronage  decentralized;  for  the  very  complexity  and 
cumbrousness  of  the  present  system  serves  in  some  degree  to 
place  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  widespread  or  consistent 
wrong-doing.  The  real  question  is,  therefore,  whether  a  better 
class  of  men  would  be  attracted  to  a  small  commission  than  a 
large  council.  To  this  the  lesson  of  experience  seems  to  give  an 
affirmative  reply.  But  it  is  a  matter  of  probability  rather  than 
a  matter  of  certainty. 

Sponsors  of  the  commission  plan  have  sometimes  urged  that 
its  adoption  would  ensure  administration  by  skilled  experts, 
since  appointments  made  by  a  small  body  would  probably  be  dic- 
tated by  reason  of  merit  and  experience  alone.  It  may  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  vesting  of  the  right  of  appointment  in  the  hands 
of  a  small  body,  or  even  in  the  hands  of  a  single  officer,  would 
not  necessarily  ensure  this  result.  There  was  a  time  in  American 
cities  when  patronage  was  committed  to  the  municipal  council, 
and  under  this  system  partisan  considerations  almost  exclusively 
influenced  the  making  of  appointments  to  office.     Municipal   re- 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  49 

formers  insisted  that  this  pernicious  policy  could  be  l)rought 
to  an  6nd  only  by  transferring  the  appointing  power  to  the  mayor 
and  by  placing  upon  the  mayor  alone  the  full  and  entire  responsi- 
bility. But  during  the  decade  or  more  since  this  transfer  has 
been  made  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  individual  merit  and 
capabilities  have  counted  much  more  in  determining  appointments 
than  they  did  in  the  days  when  the  council  possessed  the  pat- 
ronage. Now  it  is  proposed  to  vest  the  patronage  once  again 
with  a  body  of  men ;  but  one  may  scarcely  venture  to  hope  that 
partisan  considerations  will  lose  much  of  their  strength  be- 
cause of  any  such  further  transfer.  Definite  location  of  re- 
sponsibility for  civic  appointments  seems,  as  experience  shows, 
to  afford  some  assurance  against  gross  inefficiency;  it  does  not, 
apparently,  afford  a  guarantee  that  the  degree  of  efficiency  will 
be  very  high. 

An  important  feature  of  both  the  Galveston  and  Des  Moines 
plans  of  city  government  by  commission  is  that  the  "appropri- 
ating" and  "spending"  authorities  are  fused.  In  other  branches 
of  American  government  it  has  been  the  policy  to  keep  these  two 
jurisdictions  distinct  and  independent;  and  this  has  been  true 
alike  of  national,  state  and  local  administration.  The  legislative 
organs  appropriate  the  funds,  the  administrative  organs  super- 
vise their  expenditure.  In  the  New  England  system  of  town 
government  the  board  of  selectmen  does  not  appropriate  moneys 
for  any  purpose ;  this  function  is  reserved  to  the  annual  "town 
meeting."  The  concentration  of  both  powers  in  the  hands  of  a 
single  small  commission  might,  and  probably  would,  serve  the 
interests  of  integrity  so  long  as  men  of  the  right  caliber 
constituted  the  commission  ;  but  tbere  are  those  who  see  in  this 
fusion  of  jurisdictions  a  potential  element  of  danger.  It  in- 
volves, at  any  rate,  a  radical  departure  from  a  principle  which 
has  hitherto  characterized  not  alone  American  government,  but 
the  governmental  systems  of  the  leading  European  states  as  well. 
In  the  successful  administration  of  German  cities,  for  example, 
this  separation  of  the  appropriating  from  the  spending  depart- 
ments has  always  been  strongly  emphasized. 

It  is  sometimes  urged  that  the  general  adoption  of  the  system 
of  government  by  commission  would  encourage  state  intervcn- 


50  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

tion  in  municipal  affairs.  In  every  large  city  there  come  up,  year 
by  year,  many  important  questions  which  demand  broad  legis- 
lative action.  Now,  whether  their  poHcy  has  been  wise  or  un- 
wise in  this  direction,  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  state  author- 
ities have  been  extremely  loath  to  entrust  broad  legislative  func- 
tions to  small  boards  whose  jurisdiction  is  mainly  administrative. 
The  association  of  well-considered  legislative  action  with  large 
bodies  is  deeply  imbedded  in  the  American  mind  and  will  not 
be  easily  eradicated.  If  large  municipal  councils  are  eHminated 
from  the  framework  of  city  government  there  would  seem  to  be 
a  danger  that  state  legislatures  would  be  tempted  to  assume 
for  themselves  some  of  the  broader  legislative  functions  which 
the  councils  have  been  accustomed  to  exercise.  At  any  rate,  we 
know  from  experience  that  where  the  legislative  powers  of  muni- 
cipal councils  have  been  curtailed  their  former  powers  have  usual- 
ly been  assumed  by  the  state  legislature  and  have  not  been  trans- 
ferred to  some  other  organ  of  local  government.  That  there 
has  been,  on  the  whole,  too  much  state  interference  in  municipal 
affairs  most  students  of  government  are  disposed  to  admit ;  tliis 
intervention  has  been  on  occasions  salutary,  but  more  often 
detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  the  cities  concerned.  It  may 
properly  be  urged,  therefore,  that  any  step  which  promises  to 
afford  an  incentive  to  greater  inroads  upon  the  principle  of 
civic  autonomy  should  not  be  taken  hastily  or  without  due  con- 
sideration of  its  less  immediate  but  none  the  less  important  con- 
sequences. 

In  weighing  the  respective  merits  and  defects  of  the  Gal- 
veston plan  as  these  would  probably  work  out  were  the  system 
given  general  application,  the  burden  of  proof  ought  in  fairness 
to  be  placed  upon  those  who  advocate  the  extension.  A  change 
in  any  department  of  American  government  which  involves  a 
transformation  so  complete  of  the  whole  framework  of  organiza- 
tion should  not  be  readily  adopted  until  it  can  be  said  to  promise, 
with  a  reasonable  degree  of  certainty,  a  very  decisive  improve- 
ment in  civic  administration.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
experiment  of  government  by  commission  has  as  yet  been  ade- 
quately tried  in  Galveston  alone,  and  that  here  the  circumstances 
were  distinctly  unusual.     A  receivership  may  be  the  best  means 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  51 

of  getting  a  bankrupt  business  corporation  upon  it  financial  feet, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  all  sound  and  solvent  concerns  should 
forthwith  permanently  adopt  this  method  of  administering  their 
affairs. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  the  present  system  of  civic  admin- 
istration is  too  complicated,  and  too  cursed  with  the  curse  of 
divided  responsibility  to  prove  reasonably  efficient,  any  step 
in  the  -direction  of  simplification  should  be  welcomed  by  those 
who  have  the  best  interests  of  American  cities  at  heart.  Those 
who  are  prone  to  look  askance  at  anything  which  involves  concen- 
tration of  power  may  be  reminded  that  such  is  never  dangerous 
when  accompanied  by  an  equal  concentration  of  responsibility. 
Now  a  few  American  cities  at  the  present  time  are,  as  every  one 
knows,  controlled  by  small  coteries  of  men — party  managers — 
who  dominate  the  official  organs.  These  men  are  dangerous  be- 
cause they  concentrate  power  without  responsibility.  The  system 
of  government  by  commission,  if  it  would  not  eliminate  the 
"bosses,"  promises  at  any  rate  to  compel  them  to  work  in  the 
open. 

Experiments  with  the  Galveston  plan  in  a  number  of  cities 
differing  in  size  and  situated  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
will  serve  to  mark  out  more  clearly  the  merits  and  defects  of  the 
system  in  action,  i^uch  experiment  may  be  welcomed  as  paving 
the  way  for  what  may  secure  substantial  improvement  in  civic 
administration ;  but  no  one  who  appreciates  the  difficulties  of  the 
problem  will  readily  hope  to  find  in  this  or  in  any  other  formal 
change  a  panacea  for  all  municipal  ills.  The  plan  can  be  said  to 
have  estabHshed  a  prima  facie  case ;  and  it  well  deserves  a  sym- 
pathetic trial  on  a  sufficiently  broad  scale  to  enable  it  to  be  fairly 
judged. 

American   Political   Science   Association,   Proceedings,    1907. 
4:  189-92. 

Des  Moines  Plan  of  City  Government.     Benjamin  F.  Shambaugh. 

I  shall  not  in  this  paper  attempt  to  exploit  the  Des  Moines 
plan  of  city  government  as  a  method  of  municipal  reform  or  as 
a  solution  of  the  problems  of  city  administration.     My  purpose 


52  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

will  be  simply  to  point  out  such  of  the  newer  institutional  forms 
of  democracy  as  are  expressed  in  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  certain  cities,"  recently  passed  by  the  general  as- 
sembly of  Iowa  and  applicable  to  all  cities  of  the  first-class  in 
that  state,  having  a  population  of  25,000  or  over. 

Having  been  originally  brought  forward  and  urged  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  city  of  Des  Moines,  the  system  of  government  out- 
lined in  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  has  come  to  be  known 
generally  as  "The  Des  Moines  Plan  of  City  Government."  It  has 
already  been  adopted  by  two  of  the  leading  cities  of  the  state, 
namely :  Des  Moines  and  Cedar  Rapids — but  organization  under 
the  new  system  has  not  yet  been  effected  in  either  place. 

The  Des  Moines  plan  is  of  course  not  an  altogether  unique 
system  of  municipal  government.  It  is  simply  a  new  edition  of 
the  more  famihar  commission  plan ;  or,  it  is  the  Galveston  plan 
revised.  Briefly,  it  provides  for  the  government  of  the  city  by  a 
council  consisting  of  a  mayor  and  four  councilmen  who  are  vest- 
ed with  all  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  powers  and  duties 
now  had,  possessed  and  exercised  by  the  mayor,  city  council. 
board  of  public  works,  park  commissioners,  board  of  police  and 
t>e  commissioners,  board  of  waterworks  trustees,  board  of 
library  trustees,  solicitor,  assessor,  treasurer,  auditor,  city  en- 
gineer, and  other  executive  and  administrative  officers  in  cities 
of  the  first-class. 

Furthermore,  the  executive  and  administrative  powers  and 
duties  are  distributed  among  five  departments  designated  re- 
spectively as:  department  of  public  affairs;  department  of  ac- 
counts and  finances;  department  of  public  safety;  department  of 
streets  and  public  improvements;  and  department  of  parks  and 
public  property.  And,  moreover,  each  member  of  the  council  is 
required  to  serve  as  superintendent  of   a  department. 

The  members  of  the  council  are  chosen  by  the  electorate  of 
the  city.  But  all  other  officers  and  assistants  (including  a  city 
clerk,  a  solicitor,  an  assessor,  a  treasurer,  an  auditor,  a  civil  en- 
gineer, a  city  physician,  a  marshal,  a  chief  of  fire  department,  a 
market  master,  a  street  commissioner,  and  three  library  trustees) 
are  elected  or  appointed  by  the  council  and  subject  to  removal 
at  any  time  by  the  same  authority.     It  is  also  provided  that  the 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  53 

council  shall  appoint  three  civil  service  commissioners  who  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  council  are  required  to  perform  the 
usual  duties   prescribed   for   such  civil   service  commissioners. 

Turning  now  to  the  newer  institutional  forms  of  democracy 
as  expressed  in  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  Iowa  the  fol- 
lowing deserve  mention  : 

I.  Upon  the  petition  of  twenty- five  per  centum  of  the  voting 
electorate  the  Des  Moines  plan  of  government  is  submitted  in 
cities  of  the  first-class  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people  for  adoption 
or  rejection.  And  similarly  upon  petition  a  vote  may  be  secured 
upon  the  abandonment  of  the  plan  at  any  time  after  it  has  been 
in  operation  for  six  years. 

2.  The  mayor  and  four  councilmen  are  nominated  by  a  gen- 
eral non-partisan  primary  election,  that  is,  they  are  nominated 
l)y  the  electorate  at  large  at  a  primary  election  in  which  ballots 
are  used  containing  no  party  marks  whatever.  And  these  same 
officers  are  elected  biennially  at  large,  that  is,  on  a  general  ticket. 

3.  The  members  of  the  council  may  be  removed  or  recalled 
at  any  time  by  the  electorate.  For  it  is  provided  that  upon  the 
petition  of  twenty-five  per  centum  of  the  voting  electorate  the 
question  of  the  removal  of  the  incumbent  of  any  elective  office 
is  submitted  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

4.  Proposed  ordinances  may  be  submitted  to  the  council 
through  petition  from  the  electorate;  and  such  proposed  or- 
dinances, if  not  passed  by  the  council,  are  submitted  without 
alteration  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people.  Furthermore,  or- 
dinances proposed  by  petition  or  which  have  been  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  the  people  may  not  be  repealed  or  amended  except  by 
a  vote  of  the  people. 

5.  No  ordinance  passed  by  the  council  (except  in  certain 
cases  particularly  mentioned)  "shall  go  into  eflfect  before  ten 
days  from  the  time  of  its  final  passage" ;  and  if  during  said 
ten  days  a  petition  signed  by  at  least  twenty-five  per  centum  of 
the  voting  electorate  is  presented  to  the  council  protesting 
against  the  passage  of  such  ordinance  the  same  shall  be  sus- 
pended from  going  into  operation  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  council  to  reconsider  such  ordinance,  and  if  the  same  is  not 
entirely  repealed  it  shall  be  submitted  by  the  council  to  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people. 


54  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

6.  ''Every  ordinance  or  resolution  appropriating  money  or 
ordering  any  street  improvement  or  sewer,  or  making  or  author- 
izing the  making  of  any  contract,  or  granting  of  any  franchise  or 
right  to  occupy  or  use  the  streets,  highways,  bridges  or  public 
places  in  the  city  for  any  purpose,  shall  be  complete  in  the  form 
in  which  it  is  finally  passed,  and  remain  on  file  with  the 
city  clerk  for  public  inspection  at  least  one  week  before 
the  tinal  passage  or  adoption."  Moreover,  "every  franchise 
or  grant  for  interurban  or  street  railways,  gas  or  water-works, 
electric,  light  of  power  plants,  heating  plants,  telegraph  or  tele- 
phone systems  or  other  public  service  utilities  within  (the)  city, 
must  be  authorized  or  approved"  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

7.  All  meetings  of  the  council  at  which  any  person  not  a 
city  officer  is  admitted  shall  be  open  to  the  public. 

8.  The  council  is  required  each  month  to  print  in  pamphlet 
form  for  distribution  a  detailed  itemized  statement  of  all  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  the  city  along  with  a  summary  of  its  pro- 
ceedings during  the  preceding  month.  And  at  the  end  of  each 
year  the  council  shall  provide  for  a  complete  examination  of  all 
books  and  accounts  of  the  city  by  competent  accountants  and 
shall  publish  the  results  of  all  such  examinations. 

Thus  it  is  seen  (to  summarize)  that  in  the  Des  Moines  plan  of 
city  government  the  democratic  idea  of  government  in  accord 
with  the  will  of  the  people  has  been  institutionalized  by  first 
centralizing  all  powers  and  authority  in  a  council  of  five  men 
and  then  making  that  council  directly  responsible  and  accountable 
to  the  electorate  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties  in 
accordance  with  the  desires  of  the  people  through  these  newer 
institutional  forms  of  democracy,  namely : 

1.  The  non-partisan  primary. 

2.  The  election  of  officers  at  large,  i.  e.,  on  a  general  ticket. 

3.  The  recall. 

4.  The  initiative. 

5.  The  referendum. 

6.  The  veto  or  protest. 

7.  The  publicity  of  all  business. 

8.  The  expert  examination  of  all  books  and  accounts. 


AFFIRMATIVE  DISCUSSION 

Commission  Government:  A  General  Statement. 
James  A.  Berryhill. 

Prepared  for  the  The   Commercial  Clnb  of   Des   Moines,   Iowa. 

First.  The  plan  involves  the  concentration  of  full  responsi- 
bilities upon  a  limited  council,  five  in  number,  elected  at  large, 
and  thereby  responsible  to  the  entire  electorate  of  the  city. 
By  limiting  the  size  of  the  council  we  secure  the  same  effective 
management  so  notable  in  the  administration  of  great  business 
corporations.  Under  the  old  system  of  divided  powers  and 
distributed  responsibility,  the  public  official  did  not  feel  that 
degree  of  personal  responsibility  necessary  to  effective  action, 
and  was  prone  to  throw  the  burden,  especially  of  disagreeable 
duties,  upon  his  associate,  who  in  turn  evaded  the  responsibility. 
If  concentrated  management  of  the  kind  in  question  can  suc- 
ceed in  the  administration  of  such  great  corporations  as  the 
United  States  Steel,  the  New  York  Central,  Union  Pa- 
cific and  other  railway  companies,  and  such  great  banks 
as  the  City  National  of  New  York.  with  deposits 
aggregating  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars,  and 
of  other  great  institutions  of  similar  character,  I  cannot  see 
why  it  cannot  bring  success  in  the  administration  of  the  busi- 
ness of  a  municipality.  The  chief  function  of  our  city  is  the 
business  one  involving  ordinary  business  problems  like  those" 
assumed  by  private  corporations,  and  that  phase  of  govern- 
ment should  l)e  paramount  in  the  development  of  the  organi- 
zation. 

Second.  Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  council  of  the  city 
must  act  in  a  representative  capacity  and  in  order  to  enforce 
general  supervisory  attention  of  the  affairs  of  the  entire  city, 
we  provide  for  the  election  of  the  councilmen-at-large.     Under 


56  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  old  ward  system  the  representative  of  the  ward  does  not 
recognize  his  responsibility  to  the  city  at  large,  and  is  driven 
inevitably  into  combinations  with  the  representatives  of  other 
wards,  whereby  the  interests  of  his  ward  or  of  the  combina- 
tion, which  frequently  represents  a  bare  majority  of  the  coun- 
cil, are  cared  for,  to  the  detriment  of  the  interests  of  the  city 
at  large.  Under  the  ward  system  the  voters  are  given  but  a 
fractional  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  Such  a  system 
inevitably  involves  the  evasion  of  duty  by  public  representatives. 

Third.  We  recognize  the  fact  that  the  power  to  grant 
franchises  to  public  service  corporations  is  likely  to  involve  the 
corruption  of  public  officials  and  to  avoid  that  possibility  we 
provide  that  all  franchises  shall  not  take  effect  until  they  are 
approved  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  electors  of  the  city  in  ques- 
tion. The  submission  of  the  franchise  proposition  to  the  electors 
is  made  mandatory.  You  can  readily  see  that  under  this  pro- 
vision it  would  be  futile  for  the  franchise  corporation  to  pur- 
chase the  public  officials. 

Fourth.  That  the  community  may  be  advised  of  all  pub- 
lic legislation  affecting  its  interests,  we  provide  for  publicity 
by  prescribing  that  ordinances  shall  be  perfected  in  complete 
form  and  remain  upon  the  table  subject  to  inspection  for  a 
week  before  final  passage.  This  would  give  the  citizens  an 
opportunity  to  protest  against  objectionable  ordinances  during 
the  week  prior  to  their  passage.  To  render  assurance  doubly 
sure,  we  provide  that  ordinances,  except  those  of  an  emer- 
gency character,  shall,  after  passage,  remain  in  the.  clerk's  of- 
fice, subject  to  public  inspection  for  a  period  of  ten  days,  be- 
fore taking  effect,  and  during  that  interim  we  grant  to  the 
electors  the  right,  upon  petition  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
their  number,  to  demand  a  referendum  upon  the  ordinances 
in  question,  or  a  submission  to  a  popular  vote. 

Fifth.  Again  recognizing  the  fact  that  the  electors  own  the 
city  and  that  the  council  is  simply  representative,  we  provide 
for  the  initiative.  In  the  event  that  the  council  proves  refrac- 
tory and  refuses  to  consider  legislation  of  important  public 
moment,  we  give  to  the  electors  the  right  to  demand  the  sub- 
mission of  public  questions  to  a  popular  vote  and  make  it  man- 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  57 

datory  upon  the  council  to  submit  such  propositions  to  such 
vote  upon  such  demand. 

Sixth.  In  the  event  that  councihnen  prove  traitors  to  the 
public  interest  and  betray  their  constituents,  we  grant  to  the 
electors  the  right  to  recall  an  objectionable  councilman  and  to 
till  his  place  v^rith  a  successor  more  responsive  to  the  public 
interest. 

Seventh.  In  order  to  avoid  political  machines,  and  rabid 
partisan  rule,  we  provide  for  a  non-partisan  nomination  to  be 
followed  by  a  non-partisan  election  of  councilmen. 

Under  the  administration  of  this  law  the  past  nine  months 
we  have  secured  extremely  satisfactory  government.  The  gen- 
eral consensus  of  opinion  of  our  citizens  is  that  the  system 
has  in  every  way  been  successful,  and  I  believe  that  should 
the  matter  be  re-submitted  to  the  voters  fully  90  per  cent  would 
approve  of  the  plan  and  advocate  its  ratification.  We  believe 
that  our  individual  councilmen  have  been  more  alert  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties,  more  considerate  of  the  public  in- 
terest and  more  effective  in  their  work  than  any  council  we 
have  ever  had  in  this  city.  Our  government  is  extremely  ef- 
ficient and  economical  and  we  believe  we  are  getting  far  bet- 
ter returns  than  ever  before.  We  do  not  rely  on  the  voluntary 
work  of  the  council,  but  compensate  them  liberally  for  their 
services. 

You  will  observe  from  the  outline  herein  given  that  we 
♦liave  in  effect  reintroduced  the  New  England  town  meeting 
system  of  government  adapting  it  to  large  communities.  We 
recognize  the  fact  that  large  town  meetings  of  all  the  electors 
could  not  be  conducted  upon  a  deliberative  basis,  and  the  bal- 
lot must  of  necessity  be  made  use  of  to  secure  an  expression 
of  the  popular  will.  The  election  is  a  substitute  for  the  town 
meeting  and  the  initiative  and  referendum  give  to  the  citizens 
all  of  the  privileges  reserved  by  the  electors  of  the  New  Eng- 
land town.  Our  system  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  United 
States  is  democratic  in  its  principles.  By  democratic  I  mean 
democratic  in  the  broad  sense,  in  the  fact  that  we  recognize 
the  people  as  the  source  of  power,  and  regard  the  public  of- 
ficial as  their  representative  pledged  to  carry  out  their  will. 


58  COAIMISSION    PLAN    OF 

The  Galveston  plan  of  government  does  not  contain  the 
checks  and  balances  incorporated  in  the  Des  Moines  plan, 
and  is  not  as  democratic  in  character.  I  believe  that  the  changes 
made  in  the  Galveston  charter  by  the  Des  Moines  plan  law 
infinitely  improves  the  system  and  practically  prevents  the 
abuses  incident  to  a  bureaucratic   system. 

Cedar  Rapids   Evening  Gazette.     March  25,   1909. 
Commends  Commission  Plan.     E.  R.  Sherman. 

The  commission  plan  was  adopted  in  Cedar  Rapids  at  a 
special  election  held  in  December,  1907,  and  went  into  effect 
April  6,  1908.  Little  interest  was  taken  in  this  election.  Only  a 
minority  of  the  voters  took  the  trouble  to  go  to  the  polls  and  the 
proposition  was  carried  by  but  33  votes.  If  it  were  to  come 
up  in  Cedar  Rapids  tomorrow  on  the  question  of  going  back 
to  the  old  plan,  I  believe  that  there  would  be  a  vote  of  85  per 
cent  in  favor  of  the  retention  of  the  commission  law.  The 
people  are  interested  in  it — they  see  that  things  are  being  done, 
that  there  is  a  responsible  head  to  city  affairs ;  that  their  money 
is  being  expended  with  a  view  to  economy  and  results;  that  they 
are  being  constantly  informed  as  to  the  progress  of  the  city's 
business — in  short,  that  their  municipal  government  is  now  a 
purely  business  proposition,  and  with  this  condition  has  come 
a  general  awakening  as  to  civic  affairs  among  all  classes.  It's 
a  favorable  sign  when  the  voters  take  the  time  and  trouble  to 
keep  themselves  informed  as  to  the  movement  of  municipal 
matters.  The  commission  plan  law  has  done  more  to  awaken 
civic  pride  in  Cedar  Rapids  since  last  April  than  all  that  hap- 
pened during  the  more  than  fifty  years  that  the  city  was  oper- 
ated under  its  special  charter. 

Immedately  after  taking  ofiicc  a  careful  examination  of  all 
books  and  records  was  made  by  experts,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
the  people  of  Cedar  Rapids  were  given  something  they  had 
never  had  before,  a  full,  complete,  and  absolutely  correct  state- 
ment of  the  financial  condition  of  the  city.  It  was  found  that 
the   outgoing   administration    had    expended    of    1908    funds,    be- 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  59 

tween  January  ist  and  April  6th,  1908,  the  sum  of  $119,639.12, 
in  addition  to  about  $5,000  expended  by  the  board  of  park  com- 
missioners during  the  same  period.  This  expenditure  of  about 
$40,000  per  month,  if  continued  throughout  the  year,  would  have 
added  approximately  $150,000  to  the  city's  debt.  That  the  1908 
funds  remaining  were  conserved  excellently  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  on  January  i,  1909,  there  were  no  warrants  outstand- 
ing unpaid,  every  obligation  had  been  met  promptly,  (the  cur- 
rent  bills  having  been  cleaned  up  each  week  and  discounted  two 
per  cent  for  cash,  the  same  as  any  business  house)  and  there  re- 
mained a  balance  in  every  fund  in  the  treasurer's  hands. 

During  these  months  the  sum  of  $61,980  was  paid  for  the 
retirement  of  bonds  and  for  interest ;  extensive  park  improve- 
ments were  made ;  additional  park  property  was  purchased ;  the 
police  department  was  augmented  by  five  patrolmen ;  the  fire  de- 
partment stables  were  replenished,  apparatus  repaired  and  re- 
built, two  stations  re-roofed  and  all  of  them  repainted;  a  fine 
new  brick  station  costing  $6,000  was  brought  nearly  to  com- 
pletion— it  was  occupied  February  ist;  the  members  of  the  po- 
lice and  fire  departments  were  fitted  out  in  the  best  of  new 
uniforms;  the  streets  and  pavements  were  cleaned  and  repaired 
as  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  city;  the  greatest  amount 
of  brick  paving,  macadam  road  laying,  cement  walks  and  curb 
construction,  sewer  building  and  water  main  extensions  the 
city  has  ever  known  in  one  season,  was  accomplished ;  the 
work  of  re-establishing  the  lines  of  the  river  front  was  prose- 
cuted; the  preliminary  arrangements  for  a  new  concrete  bridge, 
600  feet  in  length  and  costing  approximately  $75,000  across  the 
Cedar  river,  and  other  minor  bridge  work,  was  completed; 
Charles  Mulford  Robinson,  civic  improvement  expert,  wa;s 
brought  to  Cedar  Rapids  to  investigate  and  report  on  the  city's 
needs,  and  following  out  his  numerous  suggestions,  certain 
streets  have  been  extended,  street  signs  have  been  erected,  neat 
waste  paper  receptacles  of  approved  design  have  been  placed 
on  the  business  streets,  certain  street  parkways  have  been  es- 
tablished, and  most  important  and  noteworthy  of  all,  we  have 
accomplished  the  purchase  for  park  and  public  building  purposes 


Oo  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

of  an  island  of  some  six  acres'  area,  lying  in  the  Cedar  river,  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  city.  This  island,  which  is  between  and 
immediately  adjacent  to  the  business  section  of  both  east  and 
west  sides,  has  for  many  years  been  a  municipal  disgrace.  Ten- 
anted in  large  part  by  unsightly  shacks,  and  made  a  dumping 
ground  for  all  manner  of  rubbish,  it  has  been  the  cause  of  un- 
favorable comment  on  the  part  of  all.  At  various  times  in  the 
past,  efforts  had  been  made  to  secure  this  island  for  public 
purposes,  but  these  efforts  had  all  met  with  failure.  It  has  re- 
mained for  the  commission  plan  to  accomplish  that  which  was 
impossible  under  the  old  council  system.  The  city  offices  are 
now  occupying  temporary  quarters  on  the  island,  and  as  soon 
as  spring  opens,  the  work  of  improving  and  parking  the 
island  will  be  commenced.  In  due  time,  the  people  of  Cedar 
Rapids  will  erect  suitable  buildings  on  that  island,  and  in  the 
years  to  come  Cedar  Rapids  will  be  unique  in  being  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  civic  center,  the  like  of  which  is  owned  by  no  other 
city  in  the  country. 

In  the  face  of  all  this  extraordinary  activity,  we  have  re- 
duced the  tax  levy  for  this  year  one  mill,  and  plan  to  make  a 
further  reduction  in  1910. 

There  have  been  other  and  widely  diverse  matters  that  have 
received  attention.  The  taxpayers  are  now  given,  on  the  first 
day  of  each  month,  a  detailed  financial  statement,  showing  all 
receipts  and  expenditures — from  whom,  to  whom,  and  what  for, 
of  city  money  during  the  previous  month,  and  with  this  is 
included  a  balance  sheet,  so  that  every  one  who  desires  may 
know,  at  all  times,  the  exact  condition  of  the  city's  finances. 
The  people  also  have,  in  pamphlet  form,  a  complete  summary 
of  the  council  proceedings.  Public  funds  now  draw  interest  from 
the  banks  where  deposited,  the  city's  income  from  this  source 
being  nearly  $2,000  since  last  April. 

The  police  department  has  been  reorganized — not  by  whole- 
sale discharge  of  men,  but  by  the  injection  of  needed  discipline, 
and  in  some  unaccountable  manner  the  city's  cash  revenues 
from  the  police  court  and  department  have  jumped  from  an 
average   of   about   $75   per   month    last   year,  to   something   like 


Of   THE  A 

UNIVERSITY    I 

OF  / 

MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  6i 

$700  per  month  under  the  new  plan,  while  there  has  been  no 
material  increase  in  the  number  of  arrests.  The  baggage  wag- 
ons, hacks  and  other  contributors  to  the  city  treasury  now  pay 
their  license  fees  or  go  out  of  business ;  laws  regulating  meat 
and  milk  inspection  have  been  enforced,  and  the  gambling  fra- 
ternity moved  their  apparatus  out  of  town  on  the  8th  of  last 
April,  and  as  yet  they  have  not  deemed  it  wise  to  bring  it  back. 

Cedar  Rapids  Evening  Gazette.  March  31,  1909. 

Commission  Plan  in  Cedar  Rapids.     Charles   D.  Huston. 

The  commission  plan  of  government  act,  exceptionally  good 
in  the  main,  recognized  certain  principles  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cessful conduct  of  city  affairs. 

In  drafting  the  Iowa  commission  form  of  government  act, 
it  was  given  out  by  the  f  ramers  that  the  purposes  were : 

First — They  wished  to  create  a  municipal  office  having  such 
attractive  features  that  it  would  prove  an  inducement  to  repre- 
sentative men  to  seek  political  recognition.  They  also  wished  to 
eliminate  those  objectionable  features  in  politics  which  have  here- 
tofore been  the  means  of  squelching  the  political  ambitions  of 
desirable  men  and  to  destroy,  as  far  as  possible,  the  opportunities 
for  the  political  parasite  who  seeks  office  not  for  the  purpose 
of  benefiting  the  people,  but  for  the  purpose  of  personal  aggran- 
dizement. 

Second — The  second  object  in  view  was  to  vest  complete  gov- 
ernmental authority  in  a  small,  deliberative  body,  consisting  of  a 
mayor  and  four  councilmen. 

Third — The  third  object  was  to  simplify  the  present  complex 
municipal  system  so  we  might  dispense  with  municipal  boards, 
committees  and  departments  with  their  over-lapping  and  con- 
flicting duties.  They  also  wished  to  substitute  for  the  confu- 
sion resulting  from  a  divided  authority,  a  fixed  and  definite 
responsibility  upon  each  official  for  every  act  of  the  administra- 
tion. 

Fourth — The  fourth  object  in  view  was  to  establish  a  more 
democratic  form  of  city  government  and  to  provide  the  means 
whereby  the  power  of  the  people  might  be  greatly  extended  and 
their  control  over  municipal  affairs  rendered  more  effective. 


62  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

The  adoption  of  this  plan  was  ratified  by  the  voters  of  Cedar 
Rapids  December  2nd,  1907,  and  under  this  plan  a  mayor  and 
four  councilmen  were  elected  March  30th,  1908. 

The  basic  and  underlying  principles  of  the  commission  plan 
as  we  view  it  are : 

1.  Concentration  of  executive  authority  and  fixing  of  respon- 
isibility. 

2.  Elimination  of  parties  and  politics. 

3.  Direct  nomination  by  the  people. 

4.  An  open  field  to  all  aspirants. 

5.  Preferential  voting — election  by  majority. 

6.  The  initiative  and  referendum. 

7.  The  recall. 

Principle  i.  Concentration  of  executive  authority  and  fixing 
of  responsibility.  How  different  under  the  new  plan  than  under 
the  old  plan  of  committees  (generally  three),  often  with  as  many 
different  ideas  of  procedure  and  as  often  opposition  to  any  pro- 
posed improvement  unless  it  is  made  in  some  particular  ward  or 
its  equivalent  promised  before  consent  to  make  it  is  secured, 
and  a  needed  work  long  delayed,  if  made  at  all,  no  matter  how 
urgent.  Under  the  commission  plan  there  is  no  delay.  If  a 
certain  improvement  is  needed,  is  recommended  by  the  head  of  the 
department  under  which  it  properly  belongs,  it  is  made  regardless 
of  what  section  of  the  city  it  is  in.  It  becomes  a  matter  to  be 
treated  wholly  on  its  merit  and  no  commission  will  take  the 
responsibility  of  recommending  an  expenditure  on  even  one  piece 
of  work  of  which  the  wisdom  may  be  questioned,  and  thus  sub- 
ject himself  to  discipline  by  being  shifted  to  another  department 
and  another  being  placed  in  charge  to  conserve  the  best  interests 
of  the  public.  As  a  commissioner  in  charge  of  a  particular  de- 
partment he  must  and  does  take  the  responsibility  of  that  de- 
partment. The  excuses  made  by  derelict  aldermen  under  the 
old  plan  that  the  other  members  of  the  committee  overrode  him 
cannot  be  offered  under  this.     He  must  make  good. 

Principle  2.  Elimination  of  partisan  politics.  This  plan  is 
certainly  most  successful  in  this  respect.  The  form  of  the  ballot 
is  ideal,  without  party  columns,  and  without  a  brand  or  trademark 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  '    63 

to  appeal  to  the  partisan,  thus  forcing  every  candidate  to  stand  on 
his  merit  and  reputation. 

Principle  3.  Direct  nomination  by  the  people.  The  system 
of  nomination  by  petition  eliminates  the  political  boss,  whether 
acting  in  his  own  behalf  or  for  special  interests.  It  effectively 
eliminates  the  political  parasites  who  live  by  robbing 
the  people  and  may  in  time  put  them  to  work.  The  nominations 
are  made  at  the  polls  under  such  restrictions  as  govern  general 
elections.  Those  who  attend  caucuses  and  who  have  observed 
at  some  time  or  another  the  manner  in  which  caucuses  have  been 
manipulated  for  selfish  ends,  the  good  intentions  of  the  majority 
often  being  thwarted  by  a  cunningly  devised  motion  which  took 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  people  the  selecting  of  delegates  and 
placed  it  in  the  hands  of  those  who  named  delegates  to  vote  for 
candidates  or  measures  inimical  to  their  best  interests,  will  not  be 
slow  to  recognize  the  privilege  secured  to  them  of  expressing 
their  preferences  personally,  at  the  primaries. 

Principle  4.  An  open  field  to  all  aspirants.  Many  men  capa- 
ble of  rendering  good  service  to  a  municipality,  would  never  be 
able  under  the  caucus  system,  to  get  their  names  before  the  people, 
owing  to  the  manipulations  of  so-called  ward  bosses,  who  dele- 
gate to  themselves  from  year  to  year  the  privilege  of  making 
a  "slate"  and  seeing  that  it  is  carried  out.  Under  the  commission 
plan,  any  one  can  secure  a  petition  and  have  his  name  appear  on 
the  ballot  to  be  voted  for  at  the  primary,  and  every  citizen  has 
an  equal  opportunity  before  the  voters.  To  demonstrate  how 
popular  this  plan  is,  we  have  but  to  mention  the  fact  that  fifty- 
seven  citizens  took  advantage  of  this  provision  at  the  election 
in  Cedar  Rapids  last  March,  nine  for  mayor  and  forty-eight  for 
councilmen,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  but  ten  could  qualify 
and  but  five  of  the  ten  could  be  elected.  Under  this  provision 
the  people  are  given  two  opportunities  to  approve  or  disapprove 
an  aspirant  for  civic  position — once  at  the  primaries  and  once 
at  the  general  election.  The  man  who  thus  passes  inspection 
may  be  considered  well  worthy  to  entrust  with  the  responsibility 
of  government. 

Principle  5.  Preferential  voting — election  by  majority.  Mi- 
nority election  like  minority  rule  is  wrong  in  principle.     Under 


64  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  commission  plan  no  one  can  be  elected  either  mayor  or  coun- 
cilman unless  he  secures  a  clear  majority  of  all  votes  cast,  thus 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  his  being  the  choice  of  the  electorate. 
Under  the  old  system  vicious  and  "undesirable  citizens"  have  been 
frequently  elected  according  to  well  verified  reports  from  San 
Francisco,  St,  Louis,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg  and  per- 
haps occasionally  in  peerless  Iowa.  Some  of  those  considered 
in  the  "undesirable"  class  may  have  l)een  fairly  representative 
of  their  ward  constituents  but  not  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  and 
their  power  for  evil  in  a  council  has  been  great.  As.  a  con- 
crete example  we  have  but  to  refer  to  "Bath  House  John"  and 
"Hinky  Dink,"  who  have  held  unbroken  sway  in  their  wards 
for  many  years  and  their  influence  has  to  be  reckoned  with  al- 
ways. They  are  not  only  a  power  in  the  wards  from  which 
they  come,  but  being  aggressive  and  ever  at  work  their  influence 
is  felt  in  every  department  of  the  city.  Clean  handed  men  (not 
so  "practical"  as  they)  shun  the  notoriety  of  a  contest  with 
them,  while  others  who  have  exposed  their  methods  to  public 
criticism  and  scorn  have  been  retired  for  their  temerity,  and 
what  is  the  result?  Chicago  is  known  the  world  over  as  one 
of  the  most  corrupt  and  vicious  of  cities — not  because  a  ma- 
jority wants  it  so,  but  because  a  minority  wills  it  so.  These 
men  are  elected  because  of  the  ward  system,  not  because  of 
their  fitness,  but  in  spite  of  their  unfitness.  There  is  not  a 
city  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  if  its  affairs  were  administered 
under  a  commisssion  plan  similar  to  that  of  the  Iowa  plan,  where 
such  men  as  the  "Bath  House"  or  "Hinky  Dink"  would  know 
they  had  been  in  the  running — and  the  plan  should  be  generally 
adopted  if  it  had  no  other  redeeming  feature.  But  it  has  others 
and  many.  The  abandonment  of  ward  lines,  means  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  majority  form  of  government  for  a  minority  form 
of  government.  Under  this  plan  no  longer  will  our  city's  af- 
fairs be  managed  by  a  council  of  ten,  the  fitness  of  seven  or 
more  than  two-thirds  of  whom  have  not  been  approved  by  the 
voters.  Under  this  plan  the  mayor  and  council  are  as  they 
should  be,  the  personal  representatives  of  each  and  every  citi- 
zen and  personally  accountable  to  them  all  for  the  economic  and 
successful  administration  of  the  city's  affairs. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  65 

Principle  6.  Tlie  initiative  and  referendum — the  application 
of  this  principle  places  upon  the  people  themselves  the  respon- 
sibility of  government  w^here  it  rightfully  belongs.  The  initia- 
tive and  referendum  are  the  most  efficient  weapons  of  protec- 
tion for  the  people — an  insurance  policy  as  it  were  against  graft. 
In  providing  the  referendum,  the  commission  plan  trusts  the 
people  to  pass  upon  great  questions  of  public  concern  by  taking 
the  power  to  grant  special  privileges  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
council  and  vesting  it  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  those  who  are 
the  rightful  owners,  and  who  are  and  who  should  be  entitled 
to  say  whether  they  shall  or  shall  not  be  granted.  This  means 
the  elimination  and  does  eliminate  corporate  influences  in  the 
selection  of  councilmen,  because  councilmen  will  no  longer  be 
able  to  "deliver  the  goods"  bargained  for.  It  leaves  the  people 
free  to  dispose  of  their  own,  as  they  see  fit,  instead  of  as  un- 
der the  old  plan,  delegating  the  power  to  a  few  who  might  be 
unscrupulous  enough  to  use  it  for  the  furtherance  of  selfish 
ambition.  This  is  a  provision  that  should  never  be  eliminated — 
the  people  should  not  permit  it,  and  honest  public  service  cor- 
porations should  demand  its  retention.  An  effort  to  get  away 
from  this  provision  on  the  part  of  utility  companies  who  exact 
large  remuneration  for  poor  service  will  but  fully  convince 
the  public  that  the  commission  plan  was  adopted  none  too  soon. 
But  a  company  that  is  honest  with  itself  and  with  its  patrons, 
that  accepts  the  provisions  of  this  act  gracefully,  gives  good 
service  may  exact  liberal  compensation  therefor,  and  yet  so  en- 
dear itself  to  the  public  that  it  ma}'  secure  from  it  the  most 
liberal  treatment. 

Principle  7.  The  recall— this  gives  to  the  people  the  rightful 
power  to  discharge  an  incompetent,  dishonest  or  unfaithful 
servant  at  any  time  as  an  individual  has  the  right  to  do. 

A  careful  review  of  the  commission  act  will  convince  the 
most  pessimistic  that  its  provision  will  insure  a  city  the  most 
democratic  form  of  government  ever  known.  The  act  provides 
for  the  city  every  principle  and  safeguard  that  has  been  ad- 
vocated by  anyone.  It  gives  the  people  absolute  control,  and 
through  the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall,  they  may,  if  they 


66  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

wish,  pass  upon  all  acts  of  the  admmistration.  To  question  the 
ability  of  the  people  to  use  it  in  their  own  interests  is  to  ques- 
tion their  ability  for  self-government.  But,  should  the  people 
even  make  a  failure  of  it  in  some  cities,  they  will  nevertheless 
govern  themselves  more  economically  and  more  efficiently  than 
the  political  "bosses"  have  exercised  in  governing  them  under 
the  present  system.  Cities  have  nothing  to  lose  and  everything 
to  gain  in  adopting  this  plan. 

Cedar  Rapids  Republican.     November  3,  1907. 
Cost  of  Commission  Plan. 

The  esteemed  Optimus  continues  to  parade  the  fact  that 
whereas  the  present  mayor  and  ten  aldermen  cost  only  $2,500  a 
year,  the  five  commissioners  will  cost  the  taxpayers  $9,500  a 
year.  That  is  inconsequential.  We  believe  that  the  Optimus 
itself  is  in  favor  of  a  board  of  public  works,  of  three  men. 
Those  three  men  would  eat  up  most  of  the  difference. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  under  the  commission  system  fewer  men 
will  be  employed  in  the  city  hall.  It  would  not  take  a  great  deal  of 
effort  to  show  that  instead  of  there  being  $7,000  against  the  new 
plan  there  will  be  a  large  balance  in  favor  of  it. 

But,  above  all,  there  would  be  the  results  of  concentration 
of  power  and  responsibility.  Five  men  devoting  all  their  time 
to  the  city,  and  looking  after  every  department  and  every  detail, 
would  easily  be  worth  to  the  taxpayers,  $7,000  more  than  the 
eleven  men  who  now  give  a  few  hours  a  day,  or  a  week  to  the 
city.  Cedar  Rapids  is  big  enough  as  a  business  proposition  to 
have  five  men  devote  all  their  time  to  its  affairs.  What  set  of 
business  men  would  think  of  spending  a  third  of  a  million  dol- 
lars annually,  without  such  ample  supervision? 

On  the  question  of  finances,  we  believe  that  the  present  taxes 
could  be  reduced  25  per  cent,  if  we  apply  in  the  whole  city  some 
of  the  methods  that  are  now  employed  in  the  park  commission. 
There  is  no  argument  against  the  commission  plan  on  the  finan- 
cial side,  but  the  argument  is  all  in  its  favor. 

Cedar  Rapids  Republican.     November  7,  1907. 

Interest  in  the  Commission  Plan. 
The  commission  plan  of  government,  on  which  the  people  of 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  67 

this  city  will  vote  in  the  near  future,  is  making  headway  every- 
where. In  Sioux  City  they  are  now  circulating  petitions  for 
the  calling  of  the  special  election.  The  Sioux  City  News  says 
that  90  per  cent  of  the  men  who  have  been  asked  to  sign  the 
petitions  have  signed.  The  desire  there  is  almost  unanimous,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  Mayor  Sears  and  some  of  the  aldermen 
in  that  city.  Why  they  should  oppose  it,  is  hard  to  say.  They 
ought  to  be  foremost  in  working  for  the  improvement  of  the  city 
governments. 

In  Sioux  City  they  are  confident  that  the  new  plan  will  have 
a  walk  away.  But  Cedar  Rapids  has  gotten  ahead  of  Sioux  City, 
being  the  second  in  the  state  to  get  ready  to  take  advantage  of 
the  wise  law  passed  on  this  subject. 

The  provisions  of  the  commission  law  have  been  admirably 
summarized  by  James  M.  Head  of  Boston,  as  follows : 

1.  It  makes  the  whole  city  instead  of  the  ward  the  political 
unit. 

2.  It  concentrates  and  fixes  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  men  chosen  by  the  whole  city.  - 

3.  It  recognizes  to  the  fullest  extent  the  principles  of  local 
self-government,  places  the  responsibility  upon  the  people,  and 
forces  the  people  to  govern  themselves. 

4.  It  educates  the  people  in  all  governmental  matters. 

5.  It  does  away  with  partisan  politics  in  purely  business  and 
local  matters. 

6.  It  makes  honesty  and  efficiency  in  office  and  fidelity  to 
the  public  interest,  instead  of  fidelity  to  a  political  "Boss"  the 
guaranty  of  official  security  and  future  preferment. 

7.  It  makes  the  representative  careful  of  his  conduct  since 
it  must  be  approved  by  the  people  before  it  becomes  effective. 

8.  It  effectually  destroys  the  political  "Boss"  by  rendering  it 
impossible  for  him.  to  deliver  the  goods  bargained  for,  since  the 
initiative,  the  referendum  and  the  recall  may  at  any  moment  take 
away  from  him  that  for  which  he  has  agreed  to  pay. 

9.  It  gives  us  in  fact  and  not  merely  in  name  "a  government 
of  the  people  by  the  people  and   for  the  people." 

Every  one  of  these  nine  reasons,  in  the  summary,  is  an  argu- 
ment for  the  new  plan. 


/I 


68  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

Some  of  those  who  oppose  the  commission  plan  are  banking  a 
great  deal  on  what  they  call  the  Bohemian-American,  Irish- 
American  and  German-American  votes.  They  count  on  these 
three  elements  in  our  population  to  be  unanimously  against  the 
new  plan,  on  the  theory  that  it  is  un-American.  We  do  not 
believe  that  the  claims  of  the  opponents  of  the  measure  are  cor- 
rect. We  do  not  believe  that  the  elements  referred  to  are  going  to 
be  unanimously  against  what  is  designed  to  be  an  improvement  in 
the  form  of  city  governments.  We  believe  that  a  great  many  of 
the  men  claimed  to  be  against  it  are  really  in  favor  of  giving  the 
plan  a  trial.  They  have  property  interests,  as  well  as  interests  as 
taxpayers. 

Circle.  2:  289-90.  November,  1907. 
S'pread  of  the  Galveston   Plan.     Brand  Whitlock. 

Des  Moines  has  gone  ahead  of  Galveston ;  she  has  all  that 
Galveston  has — so  far  as  charters  go — and  more ;  she  has  a 
system  that  is  far  more  democratic,  far  more  radical  than  Gal- 
veston, or  any  other  city  in  the  United  States,  for  that  matter. 
Des  Moines  has  abolished  wards,  and  boards,  and  all  that,  and 
has  a  commission  like  Galveston,  in  which  the  legislative,  ad- 
ministrative and  executive  functions  are  all  centered ;  but  she  has 
other  things,  more  democratic  things.  She  has  the  recall,  the 
initiative  and  referendum,  including  the  compulsory  reference 
of  all  franchises  to  the  people.  This  is  the  great'  achievement 
of  Des  jMoines :  here,  at  last,  is  a  chance  for  real  democracy. 
If  the  board  passes  an  ordinance  which  is  not  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  people,  they  can  compel  its  reference  to  them ;  they 
can  vote  on  it,  and  either  approve  or  disapprove  it.  This  is  the 
veto  power  retained  by  the  people  themselves — far  better  than 
the  veto  power  in  the  hands  of  a  mayor,  or  even  of  a  governor. 
The  people,  too,  if  the  board  will  not  pass  such  legislation  as 
the  people  want,  can  themselves  initiate  such  legislation ;  this 
is  the  old  New  England  town  meeting  on  a  large  scale;  and  if 
any  of  the  commissioners  is  faithless  to  his  duty  or  his  trust, 
the  people  may  recall  him  ;  that  is,  remove  and  discharge  hini' — 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  69 

far  better  and  safer  and  more  democratic  than  to  have  the  re- 
moval power  m  the  hands  of  a  governor. 

And  then,  too,  the  provision  that  all  franchises  be  submitted 
to  the  people  before  they  become  effective  is  of  inestimable  ad- 
vantage. A  street-car  company  can  buy  aldermen,  it  might 
buy  a  mayor,  it  might  even  buy  a  commissioner,  for  a  man's 
official  title  does  not  change  him ;  but  it  can  not  buy  the  people 
of  a  city;  the  people  are  not  grafters.  The  way  to  eliminate 
graft  is  to  eliminate  the  public-service  corporations  from  the 
control  of  politics.  For,  startling  as  the  information  may  be  to 
many,  public  officials  who  are  bribed  do  not  bribe  themselves ; 
the  boodle  came  from  somewhere — it  came  from  the  street  car 
company,  and  the  electric  light  and  power  company;  that  is, 
from  the  eminently  respectable  gentlemen  who  own  the  stock 
and  bonds,  and  collect  the  dividends  and  interest  of  these  com- 
panies— a  piece  of  information,  by  the  way,  it  might  be  inter- 
esting for  certain  brave  and  heroic  prosecuting  attorneys  to 
know,  for  with  very  few  exceptions  we  have  yet  to  hear  of  any 
of  them  really  prosecuting  the  real  givers  of  the  bribe.  Per- 
haps, if  any  of  the  eminently  respectable  providers  of  graft 
money  were  to  stand  before  a  court  in  their  "moral  nakedness," 
to  use  the  recent  picturesque  expression  of  a  judge  who  was 
lacking  in  a  sense  of  humor,  they  might  appear  to  quite  as  great 
a  disadvantage  as  any  of  the  unlovely  bribe-takers,  as,  indeed, 
any  one  might  who  should  stand  in  like  spiritual  nudity  in  any 
place  other  than  before  the  mirror  of  his  own  conscience. 

Another  provision,  and  perhaps  the  most  important  in  the  ' 
Des  Moines  charter  is  that  which  provides  for  non-partisan 
nominations  and  elections  of  municipal  officers.  Out  there  they 
have  adopted  and  incorporated  into  their  charter  Golden  Rule 
Jones'  principle  that  a  city  official  should  be  chosen  with  refer- 
ence to  his  views  on  city  questions,  and  not  on  state  or  national 
questions.  The  party  system,  carried  down  into  the  cities,  has 
been  the  real  bulwark  of  municipal  corruption  and  inefficiency. 
A  party  boss  will  subscribe  to  any  view  on  the  tariff,  provided 
you  permit  him  to  tell  you  whom  to  vote  for.  Party  bosses 
and   party   machines    and    franchise   corporations   and    all    their 


70  COAIMISSION    PLAN    OF 

pitiful  parasites  have  long,  in  reality,  been  non-partisan ;  now 
that  the  people  are  becoming  non-partisan,  they  will  come  into 
their  own. 

The  Des  Moines  plan  seems  to  me  defective  in  one  way, 
and  that  is  that  by  it  men  have  to  become  candidates  themselves, 
and  this  is  not  altogether  in  the  spirit  of  real  democracy.  The 
people  should  propose  their  own  nominees  b}'  petition ;  but  the 
Des  Moines  plan  in  recognizing  the  principle  of  non-partisan- 
ship in  municipal  affairs  has  struck  the  key-note  of  real  reform. 

These  movements  in  the  west  show  the  unmistakable  drift 
of  the  times ;  the  movement,  at  last,  is  not  away  from  the  people, 
but  toward  the  people;  they  are  coming  into  their  own.  What 
American  cities  need  is  government  that  will  represent  the 
people ;  when  they  have  that,  they  will  have  good  government, 
because  at  heart  the  people  are  good.  To  be  sure,  in  Emer- 
son's words,  "Laws  do  not  make  the  city" ;  the  people  make  the 
city,  and  when  they  have  laws  that  record  their  will,  they  tiave 
order  as  a  result;  and  all  these  schemes — the  initiative,  the  ref- 
erendum, the  recall,  non-partisan  nominations,  and  the  rest — 
place  the  governmental  power  where  it  belongs,  in  the  people's 
hands.  The  commission  plan,  with  these  things  added,  concen- 
trates power  and  imposes  the  corresponding  responsil)ility ;  when 
things  go  wrong,  the  people  know  whom  to  blame,  and  they  have 
at  hand  an  effective  remedy. 

There  is  a  plan  known  as  the  federal  plan,  tried  in  Cleve- 
land years  ago,  which  is  also  excellent.  Under  that  plan  the 
people  elected  a  council  and  a  mayor;  the  council  had  the  legis- 
lative power,  and  the  mayor  the  administrative  and  executive 
functions,  appointing  directors  of  departments  to  administer  the 
city's  affairs,  just  as  the  president  appoints  his  cabinet.  This 
plan  was  simple  and  effective,  responsibility  was  easily  fixed,  and 
it  carried  the  power  that,  in  fairness,  should  accompany  all  re- 
sponsibility. But  it  fell  short  in  that  the  party  system  remained 
in  vogue  and  the  people  were  without  that  splendid  weapon  of 
democracy — the  initiative,  the  referendum,  and  the  recall.  Then, 
too,  it  retained  the  ward  divisions,  which  are  cumbrous  and  tend 
to  promote  small  local   feeling,  so   that  the  cit)-,  as  a  whole,  is 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT 


overlooked  and  lost  to  sight.  Had  it-possessed  these  other  things, 
and  the  merit  system,  it  might  have  solved  more  of  the  prob- 
lems of  municipal  government  than  it  has. 

But  it  is  evident  that  Galveston  and  Des  Moines  and  Cleve- 
land have  pointed  the  way.  What  they  have  done,  all  cities 
can  do  and  will  do.  For  one  city  is  all  cities ;  they  are  all  alike 
in  essentials,  just  as  people  are;  they  have  their  individualities, 
and  their  special  needs  and  little  differences ;  but,  in  the  large 
sense,  they  are  all  ahke. 

And  so  we  may  say  that,  so  far  as  charters  and  paper  laws 
go,  the  way  to  municipal  reform  lies  along  these  lines : 

1.  A  charter  that  provides  simply  and  directly  for  a  few- 
responsible  officials,  with  a  mayor  and  a  small  legislative  or 
councilmanic  board  chosen  from  the  city  at  large  without  ref- 
erence to  wards. 

2.  Non-partisan  nominations  and  elections. 

3.  The  initiative  and  the  referendum,  including  the  sub- 
mission of  all  franchises  to  the  people. 

4.  The  recall. 

5.  The  merit  system  for  all  employes  other  than  heads  of 
departments ;  and,  most  important  of  all, 

6.  Home  rule  on  all  subjects  of  purely  local  nature,  the 
right  of  taxation,  and  the  police  power  so  far  as  purely  local. 

With  such  a  charter  a  city  would  be  free  to  realize  itself  ; 
it  would  be  a  city  for  the  people ;  it  would  be  a  city  in  which 
each  man  would  have  a  chance  to  develop  his  own  life  and  powers  ; 
it  would  be  a  city  in  which,  above  all,  special  privilege,  the  great 
foe  to  equality  and  brotherhood,  would  be  abolished.  It  would 
be,  in  a  word,  a  democratic — an  American — city.  Of  course,  the 
law  is  not  all ;  it  is  not  even  first.  Good  and  wise  people  can 
get  along  better  with  bad  laws  than  bad  people  can  get  along 
under  good  and  wise  laws.  The  people  are  everything.  As 
Walt  Whitman  says :  "The  greatest  city  is  that  which  has  the 
greatest  men  and  women.  It  may  be  but  a  few  ragged  huts ;  it 
is  still  the  greatest  city  in  the  whole  world."  But  with  the  peo- 
ple themselves  in  power  and  the  right  law,  the  American  city 
will  speedily  become  the  ideal  city  of  which  men  have  dreamed 
since  time  began. 


-^2  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

Citizen's  Bulletin  (Cincinnati).  6:  i.  April  i8,  1908. 
Galveston's  Commission  Plan.     Edmund  R.  Cheesborough. 

The  Galveston  commission  government  began  September  18, 
1901.  At  that  time  the  city  was  practically  bankrupt;  its  tax- 
able values  were  greatly  reduced ;  it  owed  a  heavy  floating 
debt  in  the  shape  of  script  issued  for  current  bills;  the  City 
Hall,  waterworks  station,  and  some  of  the  fire  engine  houses 
were  in  ruins  and  the  street  paving  in-  wretched  condition.  One 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  board  was  to  secure  the  services  of 
three  eminent  engineers,  Messrs.  Noble,  Robert,  and  Ripley,  for 
the  preparation  of  plans  for  the  protection  of  the  city  from 
calamitous  overflow.  Their  report  called  for  a  seawall  to  cost 
$1,500,000  and  the  raise  of  the  grade  of  the  city  at  a  cost  of 
$2,000,000.  The  county  built  the  seawall  and  the  city  raised  the 
grade.  Galveston  county  has  also  just  issvted  $500,000  bonds  for 
its  share  of  the  cost  of  a  $1,400,000  causeway  to  connect  the 
island  with  the  mainland.  Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  taxable 
values  of  Galveston  county  are  located  in  the  city  of  Galveston, 
hence  the  entire  burden  of  taxation  falls  largely  upon  the  city 
proper. 

Galveston's  Tax  Rate 

The  tax  rate  for  city  purposes  in  1907  was  $1.60  and  state 
and  county  purposes,  $i.i6i/^.  Valuations  for  assessing  purposes 
are  quite  reasonable,  and  notwithstanding  Galveston's  experi- 
ence and  accomplishments,  its  taxes  are  lower  than  any  large 
city  in  Texas. 

The  next  step  of  the  commission  was  to  get  the  majority 
of  the  bondholders  to  accept  2^/2  per  cent  interest  instead  of 
5  per  cent    for  a  period  of  five  years. 

The  taxpayers  were  the  beneficiaries  of  this  corhpromise, 
not  the  city,  as  the  tax  levy  was  reduced  accordingly.  Out  of 
current  revenues  from  date  of  their  inauguration  into  office  and 
up  to  February  29,  1908,  the  city  commission  has  paid  for  the 
following  extraordinary  expenses : 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  72> 

Floating  debt,  inherited  from  Aldermen $157,000.00 

Brick  pavement  on  sand  foundation,  at  $1.40  per  yard  170,000.00 

Shell    roads    135,000.00 

Storm    drains 100,000.00 

Repairs  to  City  Hall,  new  engine  house,  new  waterworks 

station  and  pumping  plant 70,000.00 

Total $632,000.00 

The  commission  has  paid  off  and  canceled  $461,953.70  of 
the  regular  bonded  debt.  It  has  taken  care  of  very  heavy  expenses 
in  raising  water  mains  and  pipes  in  the  grade-raising  area  and  in 
putting  in  new  screens  in  the  artesian  wells  from  which  the  city 
obtains  its  water  supply.  With  funds  received  from  sale  of 
sewer  bonds,  just  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  commission  form 
of  city  government,  $150,000  has  been  expended  in  extending 
the  sewer  system.  The  city  has  also  purchased  three  new  fire 
engines,  one  large  extension  ladder  truck,  other  equipment  and 
new  horses.  All  obligations  of  the  city  have  been  paid  in  cash, 
not  a  dollar  being  borrowed  and  not  a  bond  issued,  excepting  the 
special  issue  for  grade-raising  purposes.  The  city  maintains  a 
splendidly  equipped  public  hospital,  a  magnificent  gift  to  the 
city,  at  a  net  annual  expense  of  $30,000. 

The  financing  of  the  grade-raising  (which  cost  $2,000,000), 
with  the  aid  of  the  state,  has  been  a  splendid  achievement. 

State  Renders  Aid 

The  city  has  paid  about  $180,000  of  its  own  funds  to  meet  the 
interest  on  the  bonds  issued  for  raising  the  city  grade.  The 
state  has  granted  the  city  the  right  to  use  the  state's  part  of 
all  taxes  collected  on  property  located  in  Galveston  county  for 
a  period  of  seventeen  years.  With  the  seven  years'  taxes  so 
far  received,  the  city  has  paid  off  $504,000  of  the  grade-raising 
bonded  debt  and  has  on  hand,  in  advance,  one  year's  interest 
and  sinking  fund.  The  city  also  has  funds  on  hand  with  which 
to  pay  current  obligations  during  the  summer  months. 

All  departments  of  the  city  are  working  in  perfect  hannony 


74  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

and  render  efficient  service.  The  total  expenses  for  crirrent 
purposes  for  the  coming  year  of  1908-9,  according  to  the  city 
budget,  will  be  $541,300.  This,  of  course,  does  not  include  in- 
terest and  sinking  fund.  The  city  collects  interest  on  bank  bal- 
ances from  bonded  depositories.  Collects  a  special  vehicle  tax, 
which  goes  to  the  street  improvement  fund,  enforces  sewer  con- 
nections, has  metered  the  city's  water  service,  has  cleared  the 
sidewalks  of  fruit  stands  and  other  obstructions,  which  have  oc- 
cupied them  for  years;  has  prosecuted  to  a  finish  all  outstand- 
ing lawsuits,  collects  taxes  promptly,  has  destroyed  the  policy 
evil  and  public  gambling  and  adopted  an  ordinance  directing 
barrooms  out  of  the  residence  section. 

In  securing  the  service  of  heads  of  departments  and  em- 
ployes, the  commissioners  have  completely  ignored  political  in- 
fluence. Capacity  and  fitness  alone  have  been  considered.  Each 
commissioner  has  taken  a  deep  personal  interest  and  a  pride 
in  the  success  of  his  department. 

Citizen's  Bulletin  (Cincinnati).  7:  7.  April  10,  1909. 

Des  Moines  Plan  a  Great  Success. 

Des  Moines,  Iowa,  is  just  ending  its  first  year  under  a  com- 
mission form  of  government,  and  the  general  verdict  seems  to  be 
that  the  city  never  before  enjoyed  so  efficient  and  economical 
an  administration.  Expenses  have  been  kept  well  within  the 
regular  tax  income  as  compared  with  an  excess  of  expenditure 
in  the  last,  years  of  the  old  regime.  The  merit  system  has 
been  extended,  a  new  system  of  accounting  installed,  electric 
street  lighting  rates  have  been  reduced  from  $75  to  $65,  the 
police  department  made  more  efficient,  the  so-called  red-light 
district  cleaned  up,  and  so  on.  A  dispatch  to  the  Chicago 
Tribune  says  : — 

The  five  members  of  the  commission  receive  combined  salaries 
of  .?15,000  a  year,  and  it  is  estimated  that  enough  money  has 
been  saved  by  stooping  small  wastes,  due  to  loose  business  meth- 
ods, to  make  up  that  sum.  A  business  system  has  been  intro- 
duced in  all  departments  and  the  city  hall  has  been  changed  from 
a  loafing  place  for  politicians  to  a  place  resembling  the  offices 
of  a  large  business  concern.     An  entii-ely  new  spirit  pervades  it. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  75 

For  twenty  years  the  city  and  the  railroads  have  been  dicker- 
ing over  the  terms  of  constructing  a  viaduct,  without  coming  to 
any  conclusion ;  under  the  commission  the  matter  has  been 
settled  and  work  is  about  to  begin.  The  commission  govern- 
ment is  also  pressing  upon  the  street  railway  company  a  plan 
of  profit-sharing  with  the  city  after  the  Chicago  example,  and 
lower  rates  are  being  exacted  of  the  water  supply  company. 
The  people  of  Des  Moines  are  evidently  much  pleased  with 
their  new  form  of  government,  so  far  as  it  has  been  tried. 

Citizen's  Bulletin  (Cincinnati).  7:  7.  May  8,  1909. 

Commission  Government. 

The  extent  to  which  the  five  cities  in  Texas  having  govern- 
ment by  commission,  the  largest  places  in  that  state,  are  being 
visited  by  students  of  municipal  government  from  all  over  the 
country  is  remarkable.  A  joint  committee  from  the  Illinois 
legislature,  for  example,  consisting  of  five  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives, lately  visited  Texas,  and  have  reported  to  the  body 
which  sent  them.  Passages  in  this  report  are  of  general  in- 
terest, as  follows : — 

In  every  city  we  visited  we  found  the  almost  unanimous  senti- 
ment of  tlie  citizens  favoring  the  commission  form  of  government. 
The  enthusiasm  for  it  is  hardly  describable.  Extremists  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  favor  the  abolition  of  the  legislature  of  Texas 
and  substitute  therefor  a  commission  of  five  to  govern  the  state. 
Without  doubt  there  has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  the  con- 
duct of  affairs  of  the  cities.  Able,  fearless,  progressive  and  con- 
scientious men  are  in  charge  of  public  affairs.  Under  the  stim- 
ulus of  great  municipal  improvements  conducted  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  affairs  of  great  private  enterprises,  these  cities 
are  entering  upon  an  era  of  prosperity,  with  the  full  confidence 
of  their  citizens  in  the  integrity  of  their  public  officials  and  in 
the   efficiency   of  the  commission   form   of  government. 

The  spread  of  the  commission  idea  is  further  evidenced 
in  the  fact  that  Kansas  has  a  commission  law,  which  was  amend- 
ed at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  and  there  are  now 
five  cities  in  that  state  that  have  commission  governments. 
Perhaps  it  may  not  be  generally  realized  that  this  new  form  of 
municipal  control  has  taken  root  in  Massachusetts.  Three 
of  our  cities,  Chelsea,  Haverhill  and  Gloucester  are  experi- 
menting   with    government    by    commission.      Chelsea    is    being 


76  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

rebuilt  under  a  board  of  control,  consisting  of  five  members 
appointed  by  the  governor.  The  term  of  one  member  will 
expire  next  fall,  and  his  successor  will  be  chosen  by  the  vo- 
ters. One  member  of  the  board  will  be  elected  each  year 
by  popular  vote  until  1913,  when  the  citizens  shall  decide 
whether  they  wish  to  continue  government  by  commission. 
Haverhill  and  Gloucester  are  each  governed  by  a  single  board 
of  five,  consisting  of  a  mayor  and  four  aldermen,  elected  by 
the  people. 

Citizen's  Bulletin  (Cincinnati).  7:  1-2.  July  3,  1909. 

Commission  Plan:     What  it  Means.     Ernest  S.  Bradford. 

Starting  with  Galveston,  where  the  new  system  went  into 
effect  in  1901,  the  commission  idea  spread  first  to  other  Texas 
cities.  Houston  adopted  it  in  1905,  as  already  set  forth ;  Dal- 
las followed  in  1907 ;  Fort  Worth  adopted  the  plan,  and  Denison, 
Greenville,  Sherman,  El  Paso  and  more  recently,  the  state 
capital,  Austin,  have  followed  suit.  In  nearly  every  case  the 
commissioners  are  five  in  number  and  the  general  plan  fol- 
lowed is  either  that  of  Galveston  or  Houston.  After  the 
Galveston  plan  had  been  in  operation  a  short  time,  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Texas  decided  that  that  part  of  the  law  providing 
for  three  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
the  state,  the  other  two,  only,  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  was 
unconstitutional,  and  that  all  must  be  elected.  After  the  Gal- 
veston charter  was  amended  to  conform  with  this  ruling, 
the  commissioners  chosen  in  other  cities  have  all  been  elective. 
For  this  reason  the  government  of  Washington  does  not  pre- 
sent the  case  of  a  commission  government,  in  the  sense  in  which 
the  term  is  used  elsewhere,  for  its  commissioners  are  not 
elected  by  the  people. 

From  Texas  the  commission  system  spread  to  Oklahoma, 
where  three  or  four  cities  have  adopted  it,  the  plan  going 
into  effect  in  Ardmore  on  April  i,  1909;  and  to  Kansas,  where 
Topeka,  Leavenworth,  Wichita  and  other  cities  have  followed 
the  example  of  Galveston.  In  Iowa,  Des  Moines,  as  already 
noted,    a   city   of    90,000,    struck    out    along    a    slightly    different 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  ^7 

line  adding  to  the  small  commission,  elected  at  large,  the 
other  features  of  a  recall  for  the  commissioners,  a  referendmn 
on  ordinances  and  franchises,  a  non-partisan  primary  and 
election  and  a  city  civil  service.  Cedar  Rapids  is  operating 
under  the  same  state  law  as  Des  Moines ;  and  this  lawr  has 
been  amended  (1909)  so  as  to  permit  cities  of  7,000  to  adopt 
the  plan.  Burlington,  Davenport  and  other  towns  are  agi- 
tating the  subject,  the  successes  of  the  past  year  in  their 
neighboring  cities  having  had  a  marked  influence  on  general 
sentiment   throughout   the   municipalities   of   the    state. 

It  Is  Spreading 

The  Illinois  legislature,  in  response  to  a  strong  demand 
from  Peoria,  Springfield  and  other  cities,  sent  a  committee  to 
visit  the  Texas  and  Iowa  cities  which  have  the  plan  in  force 
and  is  expected  to  pass  a  law  allowing  Illinois  municipalities 
to  adopt  it.  About  the  same  time,  the  people  of  St.  Paul  and 
MinneapoHs  persuaded  John  MacVicar,  the  Des  Moines 
Commissioner  of  Streets,  and  one  or  two  other  lowans  to 
come  up  and  tell  them  about  the  plan  in  force  in  Des  Moines, 
with  the  result  that  the  Minnesota  legislature  has  just  passed 
(April,  1909)  an  act  providing  for  introduction  of  the  small 
Board  system  in  cities  of  the  Gopher  state.  Both  the  Twin 
Cities  are  said  to  be  anxious  to  try  the  experiment  which  has 
succeeded  so  well  elsewhere. 

A  bill  to  the  same  effect  is  pending  in  the  Wisconsin  legis- 
lature, while  in  both  North  Dakota  and  South  Dakota  the 
law  is  already  in  force,  and  Bismarck,  Mandan  and  other 
cities  have  the  plan  well  under  way;  and  in  Nebraska,  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Commercial  Club  of  Lincoln,  including  the  City 
Clerk  and  City  Attorney,  recently  made  an  examination  into 
the  workings  of  the  plan. 

At  the  same  time,  the  seeds  of  the  idea  have  sprung  up 
in  the  East  and  in  the  Far  West.  In  Massachusetts,  the  home 
of  the  original  New  England  town-meeting,  Gloucester  and  Ha- 
verhill have  already  put  it  into  operation;  in  Chelsea,  which 
adopted  the  plan  as  an  emergency  measure  after  the  fire  (1908), 


78  COAIMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  commission  of  five  is  appointed  by  the  governor,  instead 
of  being  elected.  A  distinguished  committee  of  the  Economic 
Club,  of  Boston,  including  Dr.  Chas.  W.  Eliot,  then  President 
of  Harvard  University;  John  D.  Long,  Harvey  N.  Shephard, 
John  Tobin  and  Harvey  S.  Chase,  submitted  to  the  Finance 
Committee  of  Boston  a  plan  for  the  government  of  that  city, 
which  follows,  in  a  general  way,  the  lines  of  the  Des  Moines 
system. 

San  Diego,  Cal.,  installed  commission  government  May  3, 
1909;  Berkeley,  the  home  of  the  University  of  California,  has 
followed  suit,  and  Portland,  Ore,  a  city  of  125,000  has  .just 
recently  voted  favorably  on  the  proposition.  Boise  and  Lewis- 
ton,  Idaho,  are  also  governed  by  commissions,  while  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  with  150,000  population,  and  nearer  the  home  of  the 
idea,  is  to  install  its  new  charter  on  January  i,  1910.  Missis- 
sippi passed  a  state  law  in  1908,  and  one  city,  Jackson,  has 
taken  advantage  of  it  so  far. 

Escape  from  Graft 

And  so  it  goes ;  in  active  operation  in  six  states,  just  adopt- 
ed in  two  more,  pending  in  two  or  three  others,  and  number- 
ing also  cities  in  Massachusetts,  California  and  Oregon,  the 
commission  plan  has  already  made  remarkable  strides  toward 
general  adoption.  And  here  it  may  be  well  to  stop  a  moment 
and  inquire  why  this  new  idea  has  received  so  cordial  a  re- 
ception and  has  been  accorded  so  ready  a  hearing.  Is  it  a  fad 
in  government?  Is  it  merely  because  the  American  people  are 
eager  to  adopt  something  new  that  this  scheme  has  made  such 
rapid  headway?  Or  do  men  believe  they  see  a  way  out  of  their 
old  municipal  slough  of  incompetence  and  graft?  Why  this 
rapid  adoption  of  a  plan  not  yet  ten  years  old? 

The  reply  must  be  evident  to  one  at  all  acquainted  with 
American  men  and  their  institutions.  There  comes  forward 
a  plan  with  which  every  business  man  is  familiar;  every  stock- 
bolder  in  a  corporation  is  accustomed  to  voting  for  a  board 
of  directors;  why  not  vote  for  a  board  of  municipal  directors? 
The    soHd    citizen    grasps    the    idea    instantly;    it    is    a"* familiar 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  79 

one ;  he  knows  its  workings  in  business ;  he  understands  it 
thoroughly.  He  waits  only  to  ascertain  the  results  in  cities 
which  have  tried  it.  Much  simpler  than  the  mayor  and  coun- 
cil system,  it  appeals  to  him  from  the  first ;  and  the  verdict 
of  success,  pronounced  even  by  conservatives  wherever  the 
plan  has  been  tried,  stamps  the  seal  of  successful  experience 
upon  it.  The  old  feeling  that  municipal  government  is  a  hope-^ 
less  mess  and  not  capable  of  improvement  or  reform  yields, 
in  the  flash  of  his  sure  instinct,  to  the  knowledge  that  here 
is  the  chance  to  change  the  whole  plan;  to  locate  responsibility 
with  certainty;  to  tell  when  he  is  getting  a  good  administra- 
tion ;  to  know  where  his  money  goes.  And  the  steady  rate 
at  which  commission  government  is  being  adopted  means  a 
prompt  comprehension  of  the  vast  improvement  in  the  proposed 
governmental  machinery  over  the  old  way  of  doing  things, 
rather  than  undue  speed  in  taking  up  a  new  idea. 

What  It  Means 

For  the  commission  idea  in  essence,  means:  (i)  All  the 
municipal  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  (usually  five),  who  -Ih::^ 
are,  individually,  heads  of  departments,  and,  collectively,  the 
legislative  as  well  as  the  final  administrative  authority  for  the 
city.  (2)  These  men  are  elected  by  the  voters  and  are  re- 
sponsible to  them.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  only  five  men 
to  choose,  instead  of  a  score,  so  the  voter  can  know  whom 
he  is  voting  for ;  then,  when  elected,  he  knows  whom  to  hold 
responsible,  and  with  the  addition  of  the  recall  (a  powerful 
check  on  the  commissioners)  and  the  referendum  (which  en- 
ables the  people  to  exercise  legislative  functions  directly  on 
ipiportant  matters),  he  feels  that  the  wires  are  no  longer 
crossed ;  he  knows  to  whom  to  speak  and  the  commissioner, 
at  the  other  end,  hears.  The  clutch  no  longer  slips — all  the 
machinery  is  connected  up.  (3)  Some  method  of  abolishing 
partisan  politics  helps  to  make  plain  the  local  issues.  In  Gal- 
veston, a  strong  Civic  Club,  composed  of  public-spiritecfbusi- 
"ness  men,  backs  for  re-election  the  commissioners  who  have. 
given    satisfaction,    and    thus    obviates    the    necessity    of    their 


X 


8o  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

making  their  own  fight  for  office.  In  Des  Moines  a  non-parti- 
san primary  and  election  works  toward  the  same  end ;  it  is 
not  possible  to  vote  a  party  ticket  straight,  but  each  name  must 
be  marked  separately.  (4)  Finally,  a  city  civil  service  in- 
sures freedom  from  the  worst  form  of  politics  in  administra- 
tion. (5)  The  publication  of  all  proceedings  of  the  council 
or  of  the  Commissioner  of  Finance  still  further  aids  the  voter 
to  decide  as  to  the  efficiency  of  his  government ;  and  because 
he  pays  his  representatives,  he  is  still  more  likely  to  hold  them 
strictly  responsible  for  the  performance  of  their  duties. 

The  real,  underlying  reason  for  the  superiority  of  the  new 
plan  over  the  old  way  is  found  in  the  close  connection  of  the 
voter  with  the  government.  The  average  voter  really  chooses 
his  representatives,  for  he  is  not  confused  by  the  multitude 
cf  offices  to  fill,  and  can  intelligently  pick  a  small  number. 
After  they  are  chosen,  they  may  be  recalled;  their  ordinances 
may  be  subjected  to  the  voter's  will  by  a  referendum;  and  pub- 
lished proceedings  and  statements ,  plainer  and  more  full  than 
formerly  was  the  custom,  enable  the  average  citizen  to  deter- 
mine what  sort  of  return  he  is  getting  for  his  taxes. 

A  Responsible  Government 

Too  much  power  in  a  few  hands?  No  more  than  was 
formerly  exercised  by  the  city  boss  or  a  clique  of  aldermen, 
often  scarcely  known  and  irresponsible,  while  the  commission- 
ers can  be  and  are  held  strictly  accountable.  The  exercise  of 
legislative  and  administrative  power  by  the  same  body  unde- 
sirable? It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that  under  the 
usual  mayor  and  council  system  the  members  of  each  council 
committee  do  the  same  thing,  passing  ordinances  as  members 
of  the  council,  while  each  committee  supervises  a  branch  of 
the  administrative  work.  The  Des  Moines  and  Galveston  plans 
simply  substitute  a  small  council  (elected  at  large)  for  a  large 
council  (elected  by  wards),  and  each  commissioner  takes  the 
place  of  a  council  committee,  even  sometimes,  as  in  Houston, 
retaining  the  title  of  committee  chairman.  The  actual  admin- 
istrative work   is   carried   out  by   the   superintendents   and   em- 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  8i 

ployes;  only  the  supervision  is  in  the  hands  of  the  commis- 
sioners. 

The  new  plan  costs  too  much?  At  Houston,  Galveston,  Des 
]\loines  and  in  other  cities  they  show^  you  quite  conclusively 
that  the  commissioners  have  saved  the  city  the  amount  of  their 
salaries  several  times  over. 

The  plan  does  not  insure  good  government;  no  mere  sys- 
tem can  do  that.  The  people  must  be  alert,  interested  in  their 
city  and  its  administration  and  ready  to  act  if  their  interests 
are  not  guarded.  No  scheme  of  government  can  take  the  place 
of  these  quaHties  on  the  part  of  citizens.  But  what  the  new 
plan  does  is  closely  to  connect  the  people  and  the  governing 
body;  it  enables  the  voters  really  to  choose  their  men,  to  judge 
their  acts  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  and  to  hold  them  re- 
sponsible for  the  kind  of  government  given,  retiring  the  com- 
missioners, if  necessary,  or  refusing  approval  of  their  laws; 
and  this  fact  inspires  the  hope  that  American  cities  can  be, 
after  all,  well  administered ;  a  new  f eehng  that  here  is  a  plan 
which  gives  the  average  citizen  a  chance  to  determine  who 
shall  represent  him  and  afterward  to  decide  whether  he  is 
being  adequately  represented.  This  is  why  commission  govern- 
ment is  spreading  so  rapidly  and  so  steadily,  and  why  the  re- 
sults so  far  obtained  have  been  so  favorable.  Every  student 
of  government  and  every  thoughtful  taxpayer  will  scan  with 
interest  reports  of  the  operations  of  this  plan  in  other  cities, 
debating  whether  its  principle  can  not  be  applied,  with  varia- 
tions, if   needed,  to  his  own  city. 

City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  lo:  357-9.  April,  1909. 
Des  Moines  Plan;  Questions  and  Answers. 

Leavenworth,  Kan.,  March  19,  1909. 

I.  Do  you  find  the  commission  plan  less  expensive  for  the 
city  than  your  former  plan? 

Yes,  we  save  about  25  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  actual 
running  expenses  of  the  city  under  the  lowest  expense  the 
city  has  ever  had. 


82  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

2.  If  it  is  less  expensive,  about  how  much  arc  you  saving 
per  year? 

Find  answer  in  above. 

3.  Is  the  city  getting  better  returns  for  expenditures  than 
heretofore? 

We  are  getting  much  better  service  from  more  capable  men, 
and  men  who  are  more  efficient. 

4.  Is  the  tax  being  reduced? 

Our  tax  rate  on  real  estate  has  been  reduced  possibly  ssVs 
per  cent.  Our  taxes  on  personal  property  have  increased  possi- 
bly 20  per  cent.* 

*(The  increase  in  tax  on  personal  property  is  the  result 
of  a  new  state  law  framed  to  catch  such  property  not  before 
listed. — Com.) 

5.  Are  the  laws  better  enforced? 

Yes,  there  is  less  lawlessness,  and  the  docket  of  our  Police 
Court  shows  less  arrests   for  all   causes  than  heretofore. 

6.  To  what  extent  have  you  been  able  to  eliminate  politics? 
We  have  eliminated  politics  entirely. 

The  plan  has  been  in  operation  in  Leavenworth  since  April, 
1908.     The  city  has  about  30,000  population. 

(Signed)  E.  W.  CRANCER,  Mayor. 


Des  Moines,  Iowa,  March   19,   1909. 

1.  Do  you  find  the  commission  plan  less  expensive  for  the 
city  than  your  former  plan? 

Yes. 

2.  If  it  is  less  expensive,  about  how  much  are  you  saving 
per  year? 

The  saving  this  year  is  estimated  between  $25,000  and  $40,000, 
exact  figures  not  obtainable  until  the  completion  of  the  annual 
report.  The  city  has  lived  within  its  income  for  the  first  time 
in  many  years. 

3.  Is  the  city  getting  better  returns  for  expenditures  than 
heretofore? 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  83 

Most  emphatically  yes.  I  believe  nearly  any  citizen  will 
endorse  this  statement. 

4.  Is  the  tax  rate  being  reduced? 

I  anticipate  a  reduction  next  year, 

5.  Are  the  laws  better  enforced? 

There  is  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  commissioners 
closely  to  observe  the  law,  but  I  attribute  this  tendency  to  the 
men. 

6.  To  what  extent  have  you  been  able  to  eliminate  politics? 
Ward    lines    abolished :     partisan  politics   in  no   degree   con- 
sidered in.  any  appointments  so   far  as  I  have  any  knowledge. 

The  plan  was  adopted  April,  1908.  City  between  90,000  and 
100,000. 

(Signed)  .  A.  J.  MATHIS,  Mayor. 

Cedar  Rapids,  loiva,  March  26,  1909. 

1.  Do  you  find  the  commission  plan  less  expensive  for  the 
city  than  your  former  plan? 

Under  the  commission  plan,  as  adopted  by  us,  it  costs  more 
for  the  salaries  of  the  mayor  and  city  councilmen. 

2.  If  it  is  less  expensive,  about  how  much  are  you  saving 
per  year? 

The  difference  in  cost  of  operating  under  the  commission 
plan  is  more  than  ten  times  offset  by  values  received  in  all  ma- 
terials purchased  and   reduction  in  prices  in  all  contracts  made. 

3.  Is  the  city  getting  better  returns  for  expenditures  than 
heretofore? 

The  city  receives  better  returns  for  expenditures  than  here- 
tofore.    All  bills  except  contracts  are  discounted  2  per  cent. 

4.  Is  the  tax  rate  being  reduced? 
The  levy  was  reduced  one  mill. 

5.  Are  the  laws  better  enforced? 

The  laws  are  better  enforced.  Formerly  the  average  amount 
collected  per  month  for  fines  and  penalties  was  about  $70; 
under  the  comniissioii  fhiii  the  average  amount  collected  is  about 
$700  per  month. 


84  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

6.     To  what  extent  have  you  been  able  to  elimmate  pohtics? 
The  commission  plan  in  actual  operation  in  this  city  has  ab- 
solutely eliminated  politics. 

Commission   went  into  effect  April,  1908.     Population  35,000. 
(Signed)  JOHN  F.  CARMODY,  Mayor. 

Houston,  Texas. 

The  Mayor  of  Houston,  Texas,  instead  of  answering  the 
questions,  sent  a  marked  copy  of  an  address  delivered  by  him 
at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  Nov.  18,   1908. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken   from  the  address : 

Inauguration  in  July,  1905,  the  present  government  found 
a  floating  debt  of  over  $400,000,  and  an  empty  treasury.  The 
city  virtually  had  no  credit.  There  wa^  not  a  single  merchant 
that  desired  to  transact  any  business  with  the  local  government. 

However,  gloomy  as  the  prospect  was,  the  authorities  went 
about  their  task  with  the  determination  to  better  conditions. 

By  the  strictest  economy  we  redeemed  in  the  first  eight 
months  of  our  term  $306,202.47  of  the  old  floating  debt,  besides 
paying  our  monthly  l)ills  promptly,  as  well  as  the  salaries  of 
all  employes. 

In  the  three  years  of  commission  rule  the  city  of  Houston  has 
wiped  out  all  floating  debt  and  has  given  to  the  tax  payer  out 
of  the  treasury,  without  the  issuance  of  a  single  bond,  in  per- 
manent improvements  the  sum  of  $701,226.74,  and  has  eliminated 
the  floating  debt,  amounting  to  over  $400,000. 

It  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Houston  that  a  sinking 
fund  has  been  created.  While  these  improvements  have  been 
going  on,  the  tax  rate  has  been  reduced  20  cents  on  the  $100. 

My  friends,  the  city  of  Houston,  is  very  prosperous  and  rap- 
idly grozving.  In  the  last  sixty  days  nearly  $3,000,000  of  building 
permits  have  been  issued. 

Daily  Capital    (Des   Moines).  August   5,    1909. 

State  Experts  Like  Plan. 

Des  Moines'  commission  form  of  government  is  completely 
vindicated  by  the  report  of  the  municipal  examiners   submitted 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  85 

to  the  state  department  of  municipal  accounting. 

After  a  complete,  careful  and  methodical  investigation  of  the 
city's  government  under  the  Des  Moines  plan,  the  examiners, 
M.  F.  Cox  and  F.  M.  Abbott,  indorse  the  system  in  every 
respect. 

The  accounts  in  the  auditor's  and  treasurer's  offices  are  found 
correct  to  the  penny  and  in  the  remarks  following  the  forty- 
five  pages  of  figures,  the  examiners  are  emphatic  in  their  com- 
mendations of  the  organization  under  the  commissioners. 

The  report  even  goes  so  far  as  to  recommend  features  of 
the  Des  Moines  plan  as  worthy  of  imitation  by  other  city 
governments. 

A  criticism  is  implied  from  the  remarks  on  the  accounts 
of  the  police  court  as  a  suggestion  is  made  that  greater  care 
be  taken  in  that  department. 

Superintendent  Schramm  is  praised  for  his  system  of  re- 
ceipts and  disbursements  and  the  examiners  state  that  the  ac- 
counts and  finance  department  is  "conducted  upon  strictly  busi- 
ness methods." 

Mayor  Mathis'  alleged  withholding  of  certain  fees  is  men- 
tioned in  the  report  indirectly  by  reference  to  the  $1,388.25, 
which  the  examiners  cannot  account  for  "only  as  it  is  carried 
forward  from  the  police  judge's  account  of  receipts."  They 
"failed  to  find  any  excuse"  and  recommend  that  the  city  have 
"at  least  interest  on  the  money." 

The   report   says : 

In  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  city  of  Des  Moinefe, 
we  tind  nothing;  but  what  we  can  highly  commend,  so  far  as  the 
system  of  keeping  the  accounts  and  finances  is  concerned. 

All  schedules  and  pay  rolls  are  countersigned  by  the  auditor 
and  approved  by  the  mayor  and  in  addition  to  the  above,  each 
scheduled  pay  roll  is  certified  to  by  the  head  of  each  department, 
and  should  the  council  in  tlie  future,  decide  to  become  a  little 
more  harmonious  and  not  antagonize  each  other  at  times,  when 
the  welfare  of  the  city  and  each  individual  department  should  be 
in  the  minds  of  every  member  of  the  commission,  the  form  of 
government,  such  as  Des  Moines  now  has,  would  need  no  de- 
fense, for  we  believe  the  principle  to  be  correct,  after '  examining: 
the  methods  of  receiving  and  disbursing  the  amount  of  money  it 
takes  to  run   the  city  of  Des  Moines. 

We  find  receipts  on  file  for  all  moneys  paid  out,  and  the  fact 
that  some  branches  of  the  government  show  sucli  heavy  increases 
in  receipts  is  evidence  tliat  this  part  of  the  business  is  being 
looked  after. 


86  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 


The  traffic  in  witness  fees  has  been  abandoned  and  the  pro- 
fessional bondsman  is  being  held  in  disrepute.  We  suggest  thougli, 
that  some  improvement  may  yet  be  made  in  the  keeping  of  the 
accounts  of  the  police  court,  realizing  that  the  office  force  in  this 
department   has   plenty   to   do. 

In  the  auditor's  department,  during  the  period  between  April 
1st,  1908,  and  April  1st,  190y,  there  were  19,374  warrants  drawn 
and  there  was  not  a  single  mistake  in  amounts  or  figures,  the 
head  of  the  department  and  his  assistants  are  all  competent  and 
worthy.  We  found  in  this  department  a  record  of  appropriations 
and  expenditures  which  the  debits  carried  into  the  account  as 
they  appear,  and  no  warrants  drawn  beyond  the  appropriation. 
Also  a  complete  record  of  all  outstanding  warrants  is  kept  and 
carried  forward  each  month,  enabling  the  department  to  know  at 
all  times  the  conditions  of  the  finances. 

The  above  systems  we  commend  to  all  city  governments  as 
worthy  of  imitation. 

In  the  treasurer's  department  we  found  the  record  clear  and 
complete,  with  competent  men  handling  the  city's  cash.  In 
checking  up  the  treasurer's  cash  with  the  amount  on  hand  and  in 
banks,  it  is  made  to  appear  that  he  has  $55.42  less  than  the  re- 
port shows.  This  is  explained  by  noting  the  overdraft  in  the 
"main  sewer  fund"  of  the  above  amount.  His  accounts  were 
correct  and  cnecked  to  the  penny. 

The  superintendent  of  accounts  and  finances  has  formulated  a 
system  which  is  a  complete  check  upon  all  the  receipts  and  dis- 
bursements and  his  department  is  being  conducted  upon  strictly 
business  methods,  the  same  as  any  successful   enterprise. 

In  December,  1908,  there  appears  among  the  receipts  of  this 
report,  in  the  general  fund,  the  amount  of  $1,388.25,  which  we 
cannot  account  for  only  as  it  is  carried  forward  from  the  police 
judge's  account  of  receipts  as  having  been  collected  in  a  fornier 
period.  Among  the  ordinances  of  the  city  of  Des  Moines,  it  is 
directed  that  all  money  collected  shall  be  turned  over  to  the  city 
on  the  succeeding  month  in  which  it  was  collected.  We  fall  to 
find  any  excuse  for  the  withholding  of  this  amount  for  nine 
months  and  we  believe,  under  the  city  ordinances,  the  city  is 
entitled  at  least  to  the  interest  on  the  money,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  city  solicitor  has  held  otherwise  in  an  opinion 
we  would  consider  dangerous  because  of  the  abuses  that  would 
naturally  follow. 

The  report  was  filed  with  Chief  Clerk  Alonzo  D.  Sheets 
of  the  municipal  accounting  department  and  copies  were  also 
filed  with  the  auditor  of  state  and  submitted  to  Mayor  jMathis. 

The  examination  commenced  with  the  accounts  beginning- 
November  I,  1907.  The  first  part  of  the  report  covers  the 
period  from  that  date  until  April  i,  1908.  The  second  part 
covers  the  period  between  April  17,  1908,  to  April  i.  190Q. 
This  last  named  portion  covers  the  splendid  progress  under  the 
Des  Moines  plan. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  87 

Des  Moines  Evening  Tribune.  July  17,  1909. 

Cost  of  Des  Moines  Plan. 

Statement,  Year  Ending  April  i,  1909. 

Assets $2,906,427.04 

Liabilities     1,077,180.34 

Amount  of  assets  over  liabilities   $1,829,246.70 

Total  receipts  of  year  1,322,290.20 

Total  expenditures    998,875.77 

Balance  on  hand  333,414.43 

Property  value,  1908   77,546,580.00 

Assessed  valuation,   1908   19,386.645.00 

Rate     36.40 

Ten  dollars  for  each  man,  woman  and  child  in  Des  ]\Ioines. 

That  is  what  it  costs  to  run  Des  Moines  for  a  year,  accord- 
ing to  the  annual  report  for  the  fiscal  year  of  1908-09,  issued 
today.  Based  on  a  population  of  100.000,  it  costs  exactly  $9.56 
for  each  person. 

The  total  amount  spent  in  conducting  the  municipality's  af- 
fairs for  the  twelve  months  preceding  April  i,  1909,  was  $998,- 
^75-77,  a  little  less  than  $1,000,000.  But  the  receipts,  including 
a  cash  balance  of  $205,141.83  for  that  period,  were  $1,332,290.20, 
so  the  city  started  the  current  year  with  a  balance  on  hand  of 
$333,414.43. 

Of  the  $9.56  spent  for  each  person  in  the  city,  62  cents 
went  for  general  government,  $2.47  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  property,  53  cents  for  health  and  sanitation,  $2.56  for  high- 
ways, S2  cents  for  libraries,  58  cents  for  recreation,  21  cents 
for  cemeteries,  13  cents  for  miscellaneous,  38  cents  for  prin- 
cipal and  interest  on  public  debt  and  $1.76  on  outstanding  debt 
obligations. 

Lozver  Than  Other  Cities 

Compared  with  other  cities  about  its  size,  Des  Moines'  per 
capita  cost  is  materially  lower  in  most  instances.  The  cost 
of  conducting  Lynn,  Mass.,  is  $14.07  for  each  person  :  Richmond, 


88  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

Va.,  $i7-44-  It  costs  more  for  other  Iowa  cities  than  it  does 
for  Des  Moines,  Sioux  City's  per  capita  rate  being  $13.22,  and 
that  of  Dubuque,  $10.26. 

But  perhaps  the  best  comparison  for  Des  Moines  is  the 
difference  in  accomplishments  under  the  commission  form  of 
government  and  the  old  aldermanic  system.  The  report  shows 
that  the  first  year's  business  under  the  new  system  was  con- 
ducted more  cheaply  by  practically  $170,000  than  the  last  year 
of  the  old  regime.  The  city  was  exactly  $224,055.10  better  off 
at  the  beginning  of  its  second  year,  under  the  Des  Moines  plan 
than  it  was  when  it  entered  upon  its  first  year.  All  of  this 
sum  is  not  credited  to  the  superior  operation  of  the  new  sys- 
tem because  an  indebtedness  of  $50,000  was  handed  down  from 
one  council  to  the  other  for  several  years  and  it  had  to  be 
dealt  with  by  the  last  council  under  the  aldermanic  plan. 

Condition  April  i 

The  following  is  the  way  the  city's  financial  accounts 
looked  on  April  i,  1908,  the  date  the  Des  Moines  plan  went 
into  effect,  and  on  April  i,  1909,  the  beginning  of  its  second 
year :  1909.  1908. 

Total  working  funds   $164,352.05    $  72,790.11 

Claims  outstanding  59,496.77      191,989.93 

So  there  was  $91,561.94  more  in  the  working  funds  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  current  year  than  there  was  twelve  months  ago, 
and  at  the  same  time  there  was  $132,493.16  less  in  debts  to  be  paid. 
The  addition  of  these  two  sums  gives  the  amount  the  city  is 
better  off — $224,055.10. 

The  following  are  the  amounts  spent  during  the  first  year 
under  the  Des  Moines  plan  by  the  five  departments  in  performing 
their  duties : 

Public  affairs  $  60,784.23 

Accounts  and  finance  235,038.02 

Public    safety    231,789.64 

Streets  and  public  improvements   369,995.23 

Parks  and  public  property 84,394.86 

Total  in  all  departments   $982,001.98 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  89 

Street  improvements  alone  amounted  to  $357,755-50  in  the 
last  year.    The  following  is  the  manner  in  which  it  was  invested : 

Total  Cost. 

Brick  paving   • $111,178.11 

Asphalt  paving 9i»993-94 

Creosote    paving    29,993.94 

Petrolithic  oil  road   5430-92 

Curbing 6,214.00 

Combined  curb  and  gutter 2,607.61 

Sewers   102,141.70 

Sewer  and  water  connections 764.60 

Sidewalks 7,553-57 

Total  $357,755.50 

A  comparative  statement  for  the  last  eight  years  shows 
that  the  tax  levy  was  the  lowest  of  any  year  in  that  period,  being 
36.4  on  a  one-fourth  valuation  of  the  property.  In  1907  it  was 
.38.7  and  in  1900,  40.3. 

While  the  city  levies  have  gradually  been  lowered  the  state, 
county  and  school  have  increased.  The  state  levy  in  1908  as 
compared  with  the  year  previous  was  4  as  against  3.9 ;  the 
county  16  as  against  16.3  and  the  school  30.4  as  against  27.9. 

The  city  of  Des  Moines  has  personal  property  worth  near- 
ly three  million  dollars.  The  following  is  an  itemized  list  of 
its  holdings  and  its  debit.  It  shows  that  on  April  i  this  year 
it  was  $1,829,246.70  to  the  good.  In  other  words  it  had  that 
much  more  in  assets  than  liabilities  : 


90  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

ASSETS 

Cash  on  hand   $  333,414.43 

Real  estate — 

City  hall   (old)    $  50,000.00 

City  hall  site  (new) 80,000.50 

Police  station   23,000.00 

Fire    stations    200,890.00 

Detention  hospitals  25,000.00 

Parks    767,000.00 

Cemeteries — 

Laurel  Hill   15,000.00 

Glendale    80,000.00 

Woodland    105,000.00 

Library     420,000.00 

Market  places    10,000.00 

Bridges     679,041.50    $2,359,931.50 

Personal  property,  all  depts   213,081.11 

Total  assets  $2,906,427.04 


LL'\BILITIES 

General  bonds    $838,000.00 

Special  (city  hall  site)  bonds  78,000.00 

Locust  St.  bridge  certificates  (*a)  56,800.00 

City  improvement  certificates    2,338.40 

Outstanding  judgments  (*b) 707.25 

Land  payments   (parks)    26,500.00 

Land  payments  (Laurel  Hill  cemetery)   .     11,000.00 

Warrants   outstanding    41,054.59 

Claim  (D.  M,  Water  Co.  rental)    22,780.10 

Total  indebtedness   $1,077,180.34 


Amount  of  assets  over  liabilities .$1,829,246.70 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  91 

Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader.  June  i,  1909. 

Galveston  City  Election. 

The  practical  workings  of  southern  politics  have  recently 
been  illustrated  in  the  Galveston  city  election,  if  the  story 
told  in  the  Kansas  City  Star  by  a  southern  correspondent  may 
be  relied  upon. 

As  has  been  widely  advertised,  wherever  the  commission  plan 
is  under  debate,  Galveston  has  been  captured  by  the  "liberal" 
element.  The  forces  of  reform  were  caught  napping  and  as 
usual  in  such  cases  were  easily  bagged.  The  newly  elected 
mayor  belongs  to  the  machine  that  was  ousted  when  the  com- 
mission government  was  tirst  installed. 

The  method  of  the  overturn  is  of  special  interest  in  the 
north  because  it  illustrates  what  the  south  is  attempting  to  do 
in  the  limitation  of  suffrage  and  what  is  possible  whenever  there 
is  enough  division  among  the  white  leaders  to  warrant  either 
faction  in  bringing  the  colored  man  to  the  polls. 

Texas  has  attempted  to  eHminate  the  colored  vote  by  the 
imposition  of  a  poll  tax  qualification.  There  are  two  poll  taxes 
of  two  dollars  each,  both  of  which  must  be  paid  in  the  month  of 
February  or  the  delinquent  will  not  be  entitled  to  vote  at  any 
subsequent  elections.  February  is  the  shortest  month,  and  it 
is  as  far  removed  from  election  day  as  it  well  could  be.  The 
colored  voter  is  not  encouraged  to  remember,  and  he  does  not 
vote. 

But  this  year  the  "liberal"  element  saw  to  it  that  the  poll 
taxes  of  a  large  number  of  negroes  were  paid.  Less  than 
60  per  cent  of  the  voting  population  had  qualified  and  when 
election  day  came  around  the  "liberal"  candidates  had  been 
elected  by  some  500  majority.  The  victory  was  not  marked  in 
a  total  vote  of  5,100.    But  it  was  enough. 

It  is  in  view  of  such  an  election  that  the  importance  of  the 
recall  as  an  adjunct  of  the  commission  government  is  seen. 
The  commission  government  must  make  good  with  the  average 
citizen  in  office  and  the  average  citizen  can  be  made  into  a  good 
official  if  he  knows  that  his  tenure  is  no  longer  than  the  good 
will  of  the  people  whose  money  he  is  handling. 


92  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

Judge  Fisher,  the  newly  elected  Galveston  mayor,  in  an  inter- 
view says : 

"X  have  at  all  times  believed,  and  still  believe,  in  the  com- 
mission form  of  government.  The  people  of  Galveston  may  rest 
assured  that,  by  no  act  of  mine,  will  the  commission  form  of  gov- 
erment  be  disturbed," 

With  the  recall  in  the  hands  of  the  citizen  there  would  be 
greater  assurance  that  he  would  do  as  well  as  he  says. 

Des  Moines  Register  and  Leader.  August  lo,  1909. 

Plan  Not  at  Fault. 

"Opponents  of  the  Des  Moines  plan  attempt  to  make  much 
of  the  frequent  wrangles  between  the  commissioners  at  council 
meetings,"  said  A,  L.  Clinite.  "Seizing  upon  these  disagree- 
ments they  claim  it  betrays  a  weakness  and  therefore  the 
plan  is  no  improvement  upon  the  old  system.  To  my  mind  the 
fact  that  the  commissioners  thrash  out  all  their  differences  in 
open  council  is  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  evidences  of  the 
superiority  of  the  Des  Moines  plan.  Preceding  its  adoption  it 
was  customary  for  members  of  the  council,  most  of  whom  were 
contractors,  to  retire  to  the  privacy  of  committee  of  the  whole 
and  behind  closed  doors  frame  up  jobs  for  their  individual  profit. 
The  public  was  not  permitted  to  know  what  transpired  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole.  Now  the  councilmen  discuss  and  act  upon 
all  public  matters  in  open  meeting.  Thus  the  public  is  equally 
as  well  informed  as  to  what  is  going  on  as  are  the  commis- 
sioners. There  is  no  secrecy.  Instead  of  fat  contracts,  in  which 
I  am  told  the  aldermen  were  often  silent  partners,  being 
awarded  to  councilmen  or  their  friends,  the  work  is  let  publicly. 
It  is  noticeable  that  most  of  the  old  crowd  of  contractors  have 
not  fared  well  since  this  open  policy  was  adopted.  Almost 
every  man  one  hears  opposing  the  Des  Moines  plan  is  an  old 
contractor.  In  my  opinion  the  plan  has  worked  quite  satisfac- 
torily, and  I  believe  the  same  opinion  is  entertained  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  voters.  Then  compare  the  aspect  of  the  streets 
today  with  their  condition  five  or  six  years  ago.  One  glance 
is  enough  to  satisfy  any  sober  minded  citizen  that  the  new 
plan  is  infinitely  to  be  preferred  to  the  former  system,  or  more 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  93 

properly,  lack  of  system.  The  taxpayers  are  getting  something 
for  their  money,  now.  Yet  one  can  observe  a  getting  together 
of  the  forces  of  reaction  for  a  desperate  attempt  next  spring  to 
install  the  old  crowd  in  the  city  offices." 

Galveston  News.  April  17,  1909. 
Commission  Plan  in  Texas.     Tom  Finty. 

The  commission  form  of  government  as  applied  to  municipal- 
ities has  become  so  thoroughly  established  in  Texas,  where  it 
was  developed,  that  the  people  of  this  state  now  generally 
reaHze  its  worth  and  suggestions  are  heard  that  it  should  be 
applied  to  county  government  and  even  state  government.  Out- 
side of  the  state,  too,  it  has  been  adopted  with  certain  modifica- 
tions, in  many  cities,  where  its  value  has  been  tested  to  a  certain 
extent.  Naturally,  people  of  other  states,  who  have  taken  an 
interest  in  the  matter  still  turn  to  Texas  where  the  test  has  been 
most  thorough  for  information  on  this  subject.  One  of  the 
latest  inquiries  is  as  to  whether,  the  particular  kind  of  govern- 
ment is  calculated  to  succeed  in  small  cities,  say  places  of 
10,000  to  20,000  inhabitants.  Heretofore,  Texas  students  of  the 
subject  have  declared  their  belief  that  it  would  be  easier  to 
make  a  success  of  commission  government  in  small  cities 
than  in  large  ones.  Now  they  are  able  to  point  to  results  for 
proof  that  the  commission  will  succeed  in  small  cities.  Here  is 
the  record  in  brief  of  commission  government  in  Texas, — the 
names  of  the  cities  which  have  adopted  commission  government, 
the  year  in  which  they  were  granted  charters  prescribing  that 
method,  and  the  population  of  each  of  them,  approximately : 

City  Date  of  Charter  Population 

Galveston     1901  40,000 

Houston     1903  90,000 

Dallas    1907  90,000 

Fort   Worth    1907  65,000 

El  Paso   1907  45,000 

Denison    1907  15,000 

Greenville     1907  12,00a 

Austin     1909  •     35,000 


94  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

City  Date  of  Charter  Population 

Waco    1909  35»ooo 

Marshall    1909  12,000 

Palestine ,  ...1909  11,000 

Corpus  Christ!    1909  10,000 

This  list  shows  that  the  value  of  the  commission  form  of 
government  has  been  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  in 
most  of  the  principal  cities  of  Texas,  but  perhaps  the  most  im- 
pressive item  is  to  be  added:  The  fact  that  the  Texas  legislature 
recently  enacted  a  law  authorizing  those  cities  (of  less  than 
10,000  inhabitants)  which  incorporate  under  the  general  law 
to  adopt  the  commission  plan.  The  people  in  many  of  these 
smaller  cities  of  the  state  have  manifested  a  lively  interest  in 
the  matter,  and  it  is  likely  that  a  number  of  them  soon  will 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  new  law. 

Shall  Plan  be  Extended  f 

What  about  applying  the  principle  to  county  government  and 
state  government? 

Some  of  the  propositions  made  along  this  line,  and  some 
of  the  questions  asked  in  that  regard  indicate  that  while  Texas 
people  are  pretty  well  agreed  that  commission  government  is  a 
success,  the  reasons  for  its  success  are  not  so  thoroughly  under- 
stood. 

"Since  the  commission  form  of  government  succeeds  in 
respect  to  cities,  makes  an  improvement,  it  is  bound  to  succeed 
if  applied  to  counties  or  to  the  state,"  says  an  advocate  of  exten- 
sion. And  that  reasoning  appears  to  be  perfectly  sound.  The 
problem,  however,  lies  not  so  much  in  operating  a  commission 
plan  of  government  for  county  or  state  as  it  does  in  making  the 
application.  » 

"We  already  have  a  commission  form  of  government  for 
counties,  and  it  does  not  succeed,"  is  an  objection  which  has  been 
made  by  persons  who  consider  the  commissions  court  of  each 
county,  composed  of  five  men  and  clothed  wi:h  broad  powers, 
the  equivalent  of  the  city  commission.  The  objection,  when  sub- 
jected to  analysis,  is  proof  of  the  assertion  already  made  that 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  95 

the  reason  for  the  success  of  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment as  applied  to  cities  is  not  so  generally  understood  as  is  the 
success  itself  recognized. 

Have  we  a  commission  form  of  government  for  our  Texas 
counties?  If  so,  why  is  it  not  a  success?  Why  has  the  com- 
mission form  of  government  as  applied  to  cities  proved  satis- 
factory ? 

Why  Council  Plan  Fails 

Crossing  lots  for  an  answer,  it  may  be  said  that  the  commis- 
sion form  of  government  has  succeeded  because  of  its  antipodal 
difference  from  the  old  council  plan,  which  latter  often  proved 
unsatisfactory  for  these  reasons  : 

First,  with  a  large  number  of  elective  officers  the  government 
proved  cumbersome  and  unwieldy,  responsibility  and  power  being 
diffused.  When  really  capable  men  were  elected  to  office,  they 
found  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  accomplish  good  work. 

Second,  with  a  large  number  of  offices  to  be  elected  and  gen- 
erally a  number  of  candidates  seeking  each  office,  it  became  prac- 
tically impossible  for  any  citizen  save  th^  professional  politician 
who  devotes  all  of  his  time  to  the  subject,  intelligently  to  choose 
as  between  the  various  candidates   for   each  office. 

Third,  the  better  class  of  citizens,  quaHfied  and  honest,  re« 
frained  from  being  candidates  for  office  because  (a)  it  was  prac- 
tically impossible  for  voters  to  make  intelligent  choice  as  between 
the  candidates,  and  (b)  it  was  practically  impossible  and  certainly 
exceedingly  difficult  for  such  men,  if  chosen  to  office,  to  accom- 
plish  much  good  therein. 

Basis  of  Commission  Plan 

Per  contra,  the  commission  form  of  government,  has  suc- 
ceeded because,  in  the  first  place,  the  people  having  fair  oppor- 
tunity to  choose  wisely  as  between  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  candidates,  the  better  class  of  citizens,  capable  and  honest, 
are  willing  to  become  candidates  for  public  office;  and  secondly, 
because  such  men  when  elected  are  able  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
the  commission  is  a  small  and  wieldy  body,  clothed  with  adequate 
powers  and  under  definite  responsibility,  to  achieve  their  worthy 


96  COMMISSION    PLAN    O^ 

purposes.  This  second  reason,  together  with  the  first,  constitutes 
the  inducement  for  the  right  sort  of  men  to  give  their  services 
to  the  public. 

County  Government  Defects 

Perceiving  the  reasons  for  success  of  the  commission  plan  as 
applied  to  cities,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  our  county- 
government  in  Texas,  especially  in  counties  of  large  population, 
has  often  been  unsatisfactory.  For  one  thing,  the  Commissioners' 
Court,  while  having  great  power,  dt)es  not  by  any  means  control 
all  that  there  is  to  the  county  government.  There  are  other 
county  officials,  chosen  directly  by  the  people  and  responsible  in 
very  slight  degree,  if  at  all,  to  the  Commissioners'  Court,  where- 
as a  distinctive  feature  of  the  commission  form  of  government 
as  applied  to  cities  is  that  the  commissioners  appoint  all  other 
officers  of  the  city,  and  in  consequence  have  complete  and  effective 
control  over  the  entire  government.  The  people  look  to  com- 
missioners and  to  them  only,  for  results.  The  other  officers 
and  employes  of  the  city  look  to  the  commissioners,  and  to  them 
only,   for  orders. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  chief  difference.  The  main  point 
of  difference  lies  in  the  method  of  selecting  the  two  groups  of 
officials. 

County  commissioners  are  chosen  by  precincts ;  city  commis- 
sioners, under  the  Galveston  plan,  are  chosen  from  the  city  at 
large  and  by  all  the  voters  of  the  city. 

Party  politics  enters  into  the  selection  of  county  commis- 
sioners, in  many  instances  interfering  with  the  free  exercise  of 
judgment  upon  the  part  of  voters.  Such  is  not  the  case  in  a 
majority  of  the  cities  which  have  adopted  the  commission  plan 
of  government,  and  in  none  of  them  where  it  is  giving  approxi- 
mately perfect  satisfaction. 

Finally,  and  what  is  most  important,  the  voter  in  picking  coun- 
ty commissioners  is  called  upon  to  make  a  choice  as  between 
many  candidates,  which  is  not  the  case  in  the  selection  of  city 
commissioners.  Not  that  there  are  many  candidates  for  a  county 
commissionership ;  the  trouble  is  that  county  commissioners  are 
chosen  at  the  same  time  as  other  county  officers,  and  precinct. 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  97 

district,  state,  and  perhaps  national  officers.  Too  much  goes 
on  during  the  preceding  campaign  to  render  it  possible  for  any 
save  professional  politicians  to  gain  accurate  information  as  to 
many  of  the  candidates. 

It  seems  plain,  therefore,  that  the  application  of  the  commis- 
sion form  of  government  to  county  affairs  would  involve  four 
things,  viz : 

1.  Treatment  of  the  county  as  a  unit,  electing  all  rnem- 
bers  of  the  Commissioners'  Court  from  the  county  at  large. 

2.  Vesting  the  county  government  exclusively  in  the  Com- 
missioners' Court  and  empowering  that  body  to  fill  all  other 
county  offices. 

3.  Choice  of  the  members  of  said  court  at  an  election  held 
exclusively    for   that   purpose. 

4.  Elimination  of  partisan  poHtics   from  county  affairs. 

Step  Backward 

Within  the  last  few  years  county  government  in  Texas 
has  been  set  further  away  from  the  commission  plan  than  it  was 
before,  and  this  is  true  in  a  lesser  degree  of  the  state  government. 
Prior  to  the  legalizing  of  primary  elections  and  the  forcing  of 
that  system  upon  the  dominant  party  as  to  all  offices,  county 
officers  were  chosen  in  many  of  the  counties  of  the  state  with- 
out regard  to  party  lines.  In  sporting  parlance,  it  was  "a  free 
for  all,  and  let  the  best  man  win."  And  even  where  party  Hues 
were  drawn,  generally  speaking,  the  candidates  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  county  offices  were  chosen  at  primaries  or  at  conven- 
tions held  expressly  for  that  purpose.  The  local  matters  were 
not  mixed  up  and  confused  with  those  pertaining  to  districts, 
the  state  or  the  nation.  Now  the  voter  is  called  upon  to  make 
selections  during  the  same  campaign,  a*nd  upon  the  same  day 
for  all  offices,  "from  constable  to  president." 

It  must  be  apparent  to  the  observant  citizen  that  the  injection 
of  partisan  politics  all  along  the  line,  accompanied  by  the  partial 
paralysis  of  public  thought,  has  weakened  not  only  county  gov- 
ernment, but  state  government  as  well.  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  the  respective  merits  of  the  convention  system  and  the  primary 
election  system,  it  will  not  be  gainsaid  by  any  respectable  student 


98  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

of  the  subject  that  the  primary  system  is  not  to  be  administered 
in  allopathic  doses.  Leading  advocates  of  that  system  have  mii- 
formly  asserted  and  contended  that  a  short  ballot  is  essential  to 
the  success  of  the  system.  Texas  legislatures,  however,  have 
esteemed  it  a  virtue  to  fasten  the  system  upon  the  state  under 
conditions  making  an  abnormally  long  ballot  unavoidable.  More- 
over, much  of  the  legislation  enacted  subsequent  to  the  adoption 
of  the  system  has  been  such  as  to  add  to  the  ballot  and  to  in- 
crease the  confusion  of  the  campaign. 

Instead  of  confining  the  functions  of  government  to  existing 
departments,  legislators  continue  to  manifest  a  disposition  to 
circumscribe  the  jurisdiction  of  the  same,  and  without  apparent 
necessity,  to  create  new  offices.  The  desire  to  make  these  new 
offices  elective  is  manifest  more  often  than  it  is  put  into  effect. 
The  idea  with  a  larg^  number  of  Texas  legislators  and  other 
politicians  seems  to  be  that  the  more  electing  the  people  do  the 
better  it  will  be  for  them.  This  is  diametrically  opposed  not  only 
to  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  commission  form  of  government, 
but  to  one  of  the  basic  ideas  of  the  primary  election  system, 
which  is  that  the  people  ought  to  undertake  to  elect  enough 
officers  properly  to  direct  the  government,  and  no  more.  If  they 
do  undertake  to  choose  more,'  they  are  apt  to  choose  none 
wisely. 

Short  Ballot  and  an  Honest   Count 

Here  is  the  gospel  of  the  primary  election  propagandists : 
"Shorten  the  ballot.  Reduce  membership  of  the  legislature. 
Reduce  number  of  other  elective  officers.  Let  these  appoint  all 
other  necessary  officers,  clerks  and  employes.  Lengthen  the  ten- 
ure of  the  office.  Elect  a  part  of  the  officers  alternately  every 
two  years.  The  result  will  be  a  short  ballot  and  the  people  may 
vote  intelligently." 

In  short,  the  slogan  is :  "A  short  ballot  and  an  honest  count." 

The  idea  that  only  a  few  officers  should  be  elected,  and  that 

these  should  choose  the  rest,  is  opposed  by  some  people  on  the 

ground  that  appointive  officers  are  not  "close  to  the  people,"  and 

because  they  say  the  few  officers  clothed  with  appointive  power 


MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT  99 

could  build  a  political  machine  to  perpetuate  themselves  and 
their  dynasty  in  office. 

The  answer  is,  that  we  already  have  a  large  number 
of  appointive  officers  and  have  political  machine^,  without  the 
people  having  a  fair  opportunity  to  choose  men  to  make  the  ap- 
pointments, whereas  were  the  election  system  such  as  to  give 
the  people  such  opportunity,  more  men  of  the  right  sort  would 
be  attracted  to  the  pubHc  service  and  the  dangers  of  machine 
politics  would  be  less  consequential. 

Precisely  the  same  objection  was  made  to  the  commission 
form  of  government  as  applied  to  cities  at  first  but  it  has 
been  proved  to  be  groundless. 

The  medium  between  impracticable  pure  democracy  for 
large  constituencies  upon  the  one  hand,  and  an  autocracy  upon 
the  other,  is  a  government  in  which  the  people  elect  only  enough 
officers  to  direct  their  afifairs,  and  in  which  the  people  have  a 
fair  chance  to  elect  such  officers,  in  which  they  have  "a  short 
ballot  and  an  honest  count." 

Obviously,  however,  it  is  clear  that  the  complete  application 
of  the  common  principle  to  the  state  officers,  even  to  coujity  of- 
ficers, presents  difficulties  not  met  in  applying  it  to  city  affairs. 

Midwestern  (Des  Moines).  3:25-8.  June,  1909. 

Des  Moines  Plan.     Henry  E.  Sampson. 

During  the  last  year  every  department  of  the  city  kept  with- 
in the  budget,  and  closed  with  a  balance  in  the  treasury  instead 
of  the  usual  deficit.  On  April  i,  1909,  the  city  had  a  working 
capital,  after  all  bills  for  the  year  had  been  paid,  of  $104,855. 
Compare  this  situation  with  that  of  the  city  under  the  old  sys- 
tem when,  on  April  i,  1908,  they  lacked  $119,200  of  enough  money 
to  pay  their  obligations  for  the  year.  In  fairness  to  the  old 
administration  it  should  be  said  that  about  $40,000  of  this  $119,200 
had  been  carried  over  from  the  previous  year,  but  even  then 
the  last  city  council  under  the  old  system  was  $79,200  behind. 
By  adding  the  balance  on  hand  at  the  close  of  the  year  of  the 
new  administration  to  the  deficit  shown  at  the  close  of  the  old 
administration  we  find  a  difference  between  the  two  systems  of 


100  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

government  of  $184,055.  Not  since  1890,  and  but  twice  in 
the  history  of  Des  Moines,  has  there  been  a  balance  in  the  treas- 
ury at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  stated  that  practically  the  entire 
bonded  indebtedness  of  the  city  of  Des  Moines  is  the  result  of 
these  annual  deficits  of  our  old  city  government.  Under  its 
unbusiness  administration  extravagance  and  waste  was  every- 
where found,  and  the  books  of  the  city  show,  with  two  excep- 
tions, a  deficit  at  the  close  of  each  year.  These  have  been  al- 
lowed to  accumulate  for  two  or  three  years ;  then  bonds  would 
be  issued  to  cover  the  floating  debt,  and,  as  a  result,  the  city 
today  is  carrying  the  burden  of  a  bonded  indebtedness  of 
$916,000,  upon  which  the  tax  payers  of  Des  Moines  are  required 
to  pay  the  annual  interest  of  ^37,730. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  to  note  some  of  the  busi- 
ness methods  introduced  by  the  governing  board  of  this  new 
form  of  city  government. 

As  business  men  they  saw  that  the  funds  of  the  city  should 
be  drawing  interest,  and  so  set  about  at  once  to  make  such 
arrangements  with  the  banks,  with  the  result  that  the  city  is 
now  drawing  four  per  cent  on  time  deposits  and  two  per  cent 
on  daily  balances.  The  interest  on  the  various  funds  of  the 
city  for  the  year  just  past  amounted  to  $9,132.17. 

The  board  of  commissioners  were  also  able  to  make  more 
favorable  contracts  with  the  lighting  companies.  The  lighting 
bill  of  the  city  for  the  year  ending  April  i,  1908,  was  $66,243, 
while  that  for  the  year  ending  April  i,  1909,  w^as  but  $60,694, 
or  a  saving  to  the  city  in  this  one  item  alone  of  $5,549-  Another 
item  on  this  bill  is  now  in  litigation,  and  this,  if  the  city  is  suc- 
cessful, will  increase  the  amount  saved  by  the  city  on  lighting  bills 
alone  to  $10,322.  The  present  rate  for  arc  lights  is  $65  per  year ; 
prior  to  April,  1908,  it  was  $95  per  year.  In  addition  to  this  the 
city  has  had  the  603  lamps,  which  were  formerly  on  moonlight 
schedule,  burning  all  night  and  every  night;  a  gain  of  1,818 
hours  per  lamp  per  year. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  loi 

Oskaloosa  (Iowa)  Daily  Herald.  April  6,  1909. 

Commission  Plan. 

The  commission  plan  of  city  government  has  been  in  force 
in  Des  Moines  for  one  year.  Following  are  some  of  the  reforms 
that  have  been  brought  about : 

1.  There  is  an  annual  surplus  instead  of  the  usual  deficit. 

2.  Service  is  not  only  more  economical,  but  more  efficient. 

3.  Streets  have  been  kept  clean. 

4.  Paving  has  been  laid  according  to  contract. 

5.  Contracts  have  been  let  to  the  lowest  bidders. 

6.  Police  department  is  no  longer  a  political  asset. 

7.  Fire  department  is  no  longer  part  of  a  political  machine. 

8.  Government  has  been  placed  upon  a  business  basis. 

9.  Business  arrangements  have  been  made  with  public  service 
corporations  with  immense  profit  to  the  city. 

10.  Water  rates  have  been  reduced. 

11.  Cost  of  street  lighting  has  been  reduced. 

12.  Negotiations  are  on  for  profit-sharing  arrangements 
with  the  street  railway  corporation. 

13.  The  "red  light  district"  has  been  wiped  out. 

14.  The  "bond  shark"  business  has  been  prohibited. 

15.  Slot  machines  have  been  driven  out  of  the  city. 

16.  People  are  satisfied  with  new  form  of  government  and 
unprejudiced  opposition  to  it  is  disappearing. 

17.  Partisan  politics  have  been  removed  from  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  city. 

18.  The  city  hall  has  been  cleared  of  political  loafers  and 
grafters  and  now  resembles  the  business  headquarters  of  a  large 
commercial  or  industrial  institution. 

These  are  one  and  all  noteworthy  accomplishments  and  they 
afford  substantial  encouragement  for  other  cities  to  adopt  the 
plan  that  made  them  possible. 

Washington  (D.  C.)  Times. 

National  View  of  the  Des  Moines  Plan. 

(This  is  the  fourth  of  a  series  of  articles  by  a  government 
official  dealing  with  the  developments  of  the  commission   form 


102  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

of  government  in  various  cities  of  the  west  and  south.  These 
articles  are  being  written  especially  for  the  Times,  apropos  of 
the  present  discussion  as  to  the  best  form  of  government  for 
the  District  of  Columbia. — Washington,  D.  C,  Times.) 

Des  Moines  has,  in  some  respects,  the  most  remarkable  and 
successful  government  of  any  city  of  its  size  in  the  United  States. 
With  a  population  of  a  little  less  than  100,000.  with  farming 
and  some  manufacturing  as  basic  industries,  the  capital  of  Iowa 
presents  a  case  of  a  municipality  which  may  fairly  be  called 
typically  American. 

Large  enough  to  have  some  of  the  problems  of  the  great 
centers,  small  enough  to  be  like  many  other  towns,  the  success 
with  its  "Des  Moines  plan"  is  of  great  value  to  other  places. 
Des  Moines  has  taken  the  Galveston  idea  of  a  board  of  five 
municipal  directors,  franchises,  a  recall  for  unsatisfactory  com- 
missioners, a  city  civil  service  and  a  non-partisan  primary  and 
election.  This  combination  makes  a  remarkably  strong  scheme 
of  government  in  the  opinion  of  most  of  those  interviewed,  and 
it  is  worth  while  to  inquire  how  it  was  initiated,  and  to  examine 
its  results. 

The  "Des  Moines  plan"  was  the  result  of  a  natural  develop- 
ment, not  of  a  crisis,  as  at  Galveston,  and  no  unusual  burst  of 
public  spirit  can  be  said  to  be  responsible  for  its  adoption  or 
success.  In  1905  the  feeling  that  Des  Moines  might  improve 
her  government  was  augmented  by  reports  from  citizens  who 
had  visited  Galveston,  notably  James  G.  Berryhill,  an  attorney, 
and  who  spoke  highly  of  conditions  there. 

Bill  into  Legislature 

A  public  meeting  and  general  discussion  led  to  the  introduction 
into  the  Iowa  legislature  in  1906  of  a  bill  to  allow  cities  of  more 
than  25,000  to  adopt  commission  government.  The  measure  fail- 
ed to  pass,  but  in  November  of  that  year  the  Greater  Des  Moines 
club  took  up  the  plan;  letters  in  newspapers  and  general  dis- 
cussion led  to  a  great  public  debate  on  January  31,  1907,  at  which 
both  the  Galveston  and  the  Indianapolis  system,  of  a  powerful 
mayor  and  a  large  council,  were  presented. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  103 

The  meeting  decided  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  former 
plan,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  draft  a  bill  succeeded  so  well 
that  it  passed  both  houses,  and  was  signed  by  the  governor  on 
March  29,  1907.  It  took  a  year  longer,  however,  to  get  a  suit 
brought  before  the  state  supreme  court  to  test  the  constitutional- 
ity of  the  law,  to  hold  a  primary  and  an  election,  and  to  start 
the  wheels  running.  A  great  number  of  candidates  appeared  at 
the  primary  and  at  the  election  a  mixed  ticket  was  chosen. 

Under  the  Des  Moines  plan  the  names  of  candidates  are  ar- 
ranged alphabetically  at  the  primary ;  the  names  of  the  ten  men 
having  the  highest  number  of  votes  at  the  primary  are  placed  upon 
the  election  ballot,  also  alphabetically,  and  the  five  receiving  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  at  the  election  are  declared  commis- 
sioners. There  are  no  party  names  on  the  ticket;  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  put  a  cross  in  a  square  at  the  top  of  a  column  and  vote 
for  all  the  men.  So  the  voter  must  know  each  man  for  whom 
he  votes,  and  since  he  only  has  to  vote  for  five,  his  choice  is  com- 
paratively easy  and  intelligent.  The  five  men  elected  appoint 
all  the  other  municipal  officers ;  the  voter  selects  only  the  five. 

Non-partisdii    lilectiou 

The  non-partisan  primary  and  election  is  regarded  as  putting  a 
premium  on  intelligence,  and  at  the  same  time  greatly  simplify- 
ing elections  ;  it  is  also  said  to  have  practically  aboHshed  partisan 
politics  in  the  city. 

The  outcome  of  the  election  was  to  place  in  power  a  former 
police  judge,  two  union  labor  men,  a  former  mayor  and  a  former 
city  assessor,  a  board  not  particularly  in  favor  of  the  new  plan. 
These  men  began  their  duties  in  April,  1908,  and  have  just  com- 
pleted their  first  year.    What  are  the  results? 

In  the  character  of  the  work  done  by  officials  and  employes, 
one  item  which  affords  fair  comparison,  there  has  been  a  marked 
change.  Where  formerly  men  were  retained  on  account  of  their 
"influence"  with  the  council,  they  are  now  subject  to  discharge 
by  the  foreman  for  incompetency  or  drunkenness.  The  chief 
clerk  of  the  department  of  streets  and  pubHc  improvements  states 
that  in  the  old  davs  it  took,  in  one  case,  three  men  a  dav  and  a 


104         •  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

half  to  lower  the  level  of  a  catch  basin,  a  job  now  of  a  few 
hours.  Recently  the  foreman  in  charge  of  a  sewer  repair  gang 
was  dismissed  because  the  work  of  his  gang  was  costing  too 
much,  a  thing  unheard  of  before.  It  is  the  general  verdict  that 
more  work  is  done  and  with  better  spirit  on  the  part  of  both 
the  heads  of  departments  and  the  employes,  than  ever  before 
in  the  history  of  the  city. 

Better  Public   Work 

In  comparative  cost  of  paving,  grading,  laying  of  sewers  and 
construction  of  bridges,  it  is  not  possible  to  make  any  study  that 
would  be  of  value,  since  varying  conditions  in  materials,  labor, 
length  of  haul,  character  of  soil  and  the  like  make  it  out  of 
the  question  to  find  jobs  of  similar  size  and  kind  to  compare. 
Careful  examination  of  detailed  statements  for  paving  and  other 
work  in  different  ways  showed  this  method  to  be  worthless. 
Only  in  the  case  of  cleaning  catch  basins  and  in  street  lighting 
were  conditions  sufficiently  alike  to  compare  the  cost  in  the  year 
preceding  April,  1908,  with  the  year  following.  In  the  former 
case  each  catch  basin  cost  $1.40  to  clean  each  time;  in  the  lat- 
ter, $1.12. 

In  street  lighting  a  detailed  statement  shows  the  large  sav- 
ing of  $10,322.60  in  one  year,  besides  the  cancellation  of  a  claim 
of  the  electric  company  for  $4,500.  The  present  rate  for  arc 
lights  is  $65  per  year ;  it  was  $95  per  year  before  April,  1908. 
In  addition  603  lamps  formerly  on  moonhght  schedule  now 
burn  all  night  and  every  night,  4,000  hours  per  year,  a  gain 
of  1,818  hours  per  lamp  per  year. 

On  the  financial  side  the  showing  is  also  decided,  and,  so 
far  as  can  be  ascertained,  it  is  not  merely  a  showing,  but  a 
fact.  Modern  bookkeeping  methods  are  used,  the  reports  of  the 
various  departments  are  carefully  checked  over  and  all  moneys 
strictly  accounted  for.  Under  former  methods  a  police  justice 
failed  to  turn  over  several  thousands  of  dollars  of  fees  due  to 
the  city  until  a  careful  inspection  revealed  the  discrepancy,  and 
then  there  was  no  way  of  telling  whether  all  the  fees  were  turned 
over,  since  the  justice,  in  many  cases,  had  given  no  receipt 
to  those  who  paid  the  fees. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  105 

Good  Business  Methods 

Money  was  also  allowed  to  remain  a  long  time  in  the  hands 
of  the  county  officers  before  being  paid  over  to  the  city ;  it  is  now 
secured  promptly.  Bills  are  paid  with  dispatch.  The  adminis- 
tration which  went  out  in  April,  1908,  left  $180,000  of  outstanding 
judgments  and  other  claims.  This  amount  the  new  government 
took  up  by  issuing  bonds  and  with  a  cleared  field  went  forward 
to  meet  current  expenses.  A  statement  by  the  city  auditor, 
John  W.  Hawk,  shows  that  on  March  31,  1909,  the  end  of  the 
first  fiscal  year  of  the  commission,  the  city  not  only  did  not 
have  any  outstanding  judgments  against  it,  but  had  $49,472.74 
more  in  its  working  funds  than  on  the  same  date  the  year  be- 
fore. From  the  most  conservative  viewpoint  the  new  govern- 
ment has  saved  at  least  $50,000  (approximately)  at  the  same  time 
that  it  has  done  more  work  than  ever  before  in  a  single  year. 

The  evidence  of  citizens  as  to  the  work  accomplished  is  most 
convincing.  Said  J.  E.  Tone  of  Tone  Bros.,  incorporated,  whole- 
sale coffee  and  spices : 

''The  streets  and  alleys  are  cleaner  under  the  new  plan  ;  one 
or  two  jobs  of  bad  paving  were  not  accepted ;  sidewalks  are 
being  laid  of  uniform  width  and  material — cement  with  an  iron 
strip  for  edging.  Police  regulations  are  better  enforced ;  saloons 
are  about  the  same  as  usual,  but  slot  machines  have  been  sup- 
pressed and  the  red  light  district  broken  up,  its  denizens  being 
mainly  driven  out  of  the  city,  not  scattered.  The  fire  depart- 
ment, usually  efficient,  is  even  more  so  under  present  conditions, 
and  both  policemen  and  firemen  present  a  neater  appearance." 

Improvement  All  Around 

H.  T.  Blackburn,  cashier  of  the  Iowa  National  bank,  cor- 
roborated this  opinion,  declared  the  plan  had  worked  well,  and 
that  merchants  favored  it  as  a  great  improvement  over  the  old 
government.  He,  too,  emphasized  the  better  condition  of  the 
streets  and  added : 

"There  is  a  clear  cut  division  of  the  municipal  work  and 
officials  take  an  interest  in  their  duties."  F.  J.  Camp,  secretary 
and  manager  of  the   Brown-Hurley   Hardware  company,    spoke 


io6  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

strongly  of  the  value  of  better  street  conditions  in  the  business 
section.  "The  new  method,"  he  said,  "makes  it  possible  to  lo- 
cate responsibihty  at  the  city  hall  for  any  act  or  failure  of  the 
city  government,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
plan  will  be  continued." 

A  large  property  owner  pointed  out  the  superiority  of  this 
new  system  over  the  old.  "Formerly,"  he  said,  "it  was  frequently 
impossible  to  find  any  one  at  the  city  hall;  the  council,  being 
practically  unpaid,  gave  little  or  no  time  to  the  city's  business, 
meeting  nights  after  their  own  business  was  finished.  Men 
should  be  paid  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  the  work  of  the 
city;  this  brings  responsibility  and  gives  good  results." 

Editor  William  Hale  of  the  Des  Moines  News,  and  Professor 
McNaul  of  Des  Moines  college  spoke  enthusiastically  of  the  im- 
provement the  methods  have  brought  about.  Isaac  Friedlich,  a 
large  retail  clothing  merchant,  spoke  warmly  of  the  good  effects 
of  having  paid  commissioners  in  the  increased  promptness  of  at- 
tention to  business  and  the  general  improvement,  and  T.  J.  Wil- 
liams of  the  Williams  Buggy  company  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  commissioners  had  held  office  under  the  old  gov- 
ernment, and  pointed  out  that  now  the  same  men  are  enabled  to 
do  better  work. 

Worth   Considering 

A  moment's  consideration  of  the  personnel  of  the  commis- 
sion is  worth  while.  In  view  of  the  wide  publicity  given  to  the 
Des  Moines  plan,  inquiry  naturally  arises  as  to  the  men  chosen 
to  carry  it  out.  Are  they  representative  citizens?  Do  they 
all  come  from  the  same  ward?  In  short,  what  are  their  charac- 
ters ? 

In  the  first  place  it  should  be  noted  that  Des  ]\Ioines  retains 
the  old  name,  "city  council,"  to  designate  its  new  commission 
of  five.  The  mayor-commissioner,  who  has  charge  of  the  de- 
partment of  public  affairs  and  general  supervision  of  the  needs 
of  the  city,  is  A.  J.  Mathis,  a  former  police  judge  and  a  democrat, 
who  was  not  particularly  favorable  to  the  new  plan  at  the  outset. 
The  superintendent  of  accounts  and  finances  is  Charles  W. 
Schramm,    previously    city    assessor.      In    his    department    John 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERN^IENT  107 

W.  Hawk,  the  auditor,  was  assistant  auditor  for  many  years  and 
is  an  experienced  man, 

John  MacVicar,  mayor  twice  before,  is  now  head  of  the  de- 
partment of  streets  and  public  improvements.  He  has  been  sec- 
retary for  several  years  of  the  League  of  American  Municipali- 
ties, and  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  city  affairs.  Albert  C. 
Frisk,  chief  clerk  in  this  department,  occupied  a  similar  position 
for  several  years. 

John  L.  Hamery,  in  charge  of  the  department  of  public  safety, 
is  a  union  labor  man,  a  journeyman  painter  by  trade.  He  was 
alderman  in  1907  and  has  made  a  record  in  police  matters,  clean- 
ing up  the  city  with  energy  and  decision. 

J.  W.  Ash,  at  the  head  of  parks  and  public  property,  used 
to  be  a  coal  miner  and  was  a  deputy  sheriff  for  one  term.  He 
is  another  union  labor  man. 

East  Side  of  Des  Moines 

The  east  side  of  Des  Moines — for  the  city  is  divided  by  the 
Des  Moines  river — contains  the  state  capitol  and  a  business 
section  of  its  own,  not  so  large,  however,  as  on  the  west  side. 
Mayor  Mathis  and  Commissioner  Ash  come  from  the  east  side ; 
the  others  Hve  west  of  the  river.  There  are  both  republicans  and 
democrats  on  the  board;  union  labor  is  represented;  there  is 
iio  tendency  discernible  to  choose  the  commissioners  from  any 
one  section  of  the  city,  nor  from  any  one  profession  or  class. 

This  Des  Moines  plan  is  the  "Galveston  plan  improved,"  as 
one  man  expressed  it.  To  the  commission  is  given  large  powers, 
authority  to  pass  ordinances,  to  determine  the  duties  and  fix  the 
salaries  of  city  employes,  to  create  or  discontinue  offices,  remove 
subordinates  and  transfer  employes  from  one  office  to  another. 
A  majority  vote  rules,  the  mayor  having  no  veto,  Des  Moines 
following  in  this  respect  the  Galveston  plan  rather  than  that 
at  Houston. 

With  these  large  powers  go  three  checks  of  great  importance, 
which  make  the  commissioners  strictly  accountable  to  the  people — 
the  recall,  the  referendum,  and  the  non-partisan  primary  and  elec- 
tion already  described.  Any  ordinance  not  satisfactory  to  the 
people  may,  upon  petition  of  25  per  cent   of  the  voters  at  the 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


io8  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

last  election,  be  submitted  to  popular  vote  and  does  not  become 
effective  unless  ratified  by  a  majority  of  those  voting  upon  it. 
This  safeguard  is  especially  valuable  in  the  case  of  franchises, 
aimed,  as  it  is,  to  prevent  the  council  from  giving  away  the 
city's  rights. 

Under  Eye  of  Constituents 

Moreover,  there  is  a  referendum  as  to  commissioners,  for  the 
recall  is  simply  a  means  of  referring  a  commissioner  back  to  his 
constituents  for  approval  or  disapproval.  Upon  petition  of  25 
per  cent  of  the  voters  the  man  whose  recall  is  demanded  must 
stand  at  once  as  candidate  for  re-election ;  anyone  else  may 
be  nominated  at  the  same  time,  and,  upon  having  a  majority 
of  votes,  is  elected  in  place  of  the  unsatisfactory  commissioner. 
This  promises  to  be  a  most  efficient  means  of  control.  Twice 
has  it  been  threatened,  once  in  the  case  of  the  appointment  of 
a  chief  of  police.  It  has  not  yet  been  actually  used.  The  voters 
of  Los  Angeles,  however,  recently  had  occasion  to  use  this  power 
and  the  mayor,  threatened  with  recall,  resigned  rather  than  stand 
for  re-election. 

Provision  is  also  made  for  initiating  laws  in  case  the  council 
refuses  to  pass  them  when  generally  demanded,  but  in  practice 
this  feature  is  not  likely  to  be  much  used,  as  its  mere  existence 
tends  to  make  the  board  susceptible  to  public  opinion. 

Publicity  is  provided  for  by  requiring  a  monthly  statement  of 
all  receipts  and  expenditures,  which  is  published  in  the  news- 
papers. A  municipal  civil  service  commission  has  been  appointed 
and  has  begun  work.  It  will  be  some  time  longer,  however,  be- 
fore its  value  can  be  accurately  determined. 

Severe  Penalty 

A  severe  penalty  is  provided  for  bribery  and  even  for  agree- 
ing to  perform  services  for  a  candidate  in  return  for  money 
or  other  valuable  consideration. 

Finally,  it  is  provided  that  after  six  years  of  trial  any  city 
may  return,  if  it  so  desires,  to  its  former  method  of  govern- 
ment. The  adoption  of  the  plan  is  also  purely  optional.  The 
trend  of  sentiment,  however,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  whereas 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  109 

the  first  act,  that  of  1907,  made  the  plan  applicable  to  cities  of 
25,000  population  and  over,  an  amendment  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature in  April,  1909,  extends  it  to  cities  of  7,000  and  upward. 

Attend  a  meeting  of  the  council-commissioners.  Around  a 
plain  table,  on  which  there  are  a  telephone,  a  copy  of  the  city 
ordinances  and  various  papers,  sit  five  men  discussing  plans,  put- 
ting motions,  receiving  communications,  etc.  There  is  no  noise, 
no  loud  disputing,  no  parliamentary  wrangling.  All  meetings 
are  open  to  the  public;  reporters  and  a  few  citizens  usually  are 
present.  The  business  is  commonly  completed  in  an  hour  or  less. 
Meetings  are  frequent,  often  every  day.  The  commissioners 
give  all  their  time,  and  receive  $3,000  a  year  each,  except  the 
mayor,  who  has  $3,500. 

Des  Moines  Plan 

This,  then,  is  the  Des  Moines  plan.  A  city  board  of  directors, 
elected  at  large  by  the  municipal  stockholders — the  voters — are 
given  adequate  power  to  transact  all  business,  but  they  are  sub- 
ject to  recall  for  cause,  and  their  ordinances  may  be  referred, 
by  petition,  to  the  stockholders  for  ratification,  Their  proceed- 
ings must  be  published  each  month ;  their  meetings  are  public ; 
their  municipal  duties  are  their  only  business,  and  they  are  paid. 
The  showing  made  by  the  first  year's  operation  of  the  plan  is 
likely  to  result  in  its  continuance,  in  the  opinion  of  most  of  those 
interviewed. 

It  is  true  that  a  majority  of  the  commissioners  were  in-  politics 
before ;  so  it  was  found  to  be  also  in  Houston  and  in  Cedar  Rap- 
ids. But  if  this  Galveston-Des  Moines  plan  can  take  the  average 
citizen — politician  or  business  man — and  make  him  a  fairly  care- 
ful manager  of  city  business  it  will  do  what  few  mayor-and- 
council  systems  have  done^t  will  give  us  a  large  degree  of 
municipal  efficiency. 

Why  is  Plan  Better  f 

Why  does  this  plan  surpass  the  other?  For  the  same  reason 
that  the  New  England  town  meeting,  to  which  it  is  a  return 
in  principle,  surpassed  other  methods  of  reflecting  local  opinion. 
It  is  more  democratic.     It  connects  the  people  and  their  repre- 


no  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

sentatives  very  directly;  the  commissioners  are  few  enough  to  be 
known;  each  is  in  charge  of  a  department,  and  the  referendum 
and  recall  make  it  possible  for  the  people,  knowing  now  who 
is  responsible,  effectively  to  control  their  agents.  This  control  is 
undoubtedly  greater  with  these  two  features  than  without  them, 
unless,  as  in  the  case  of  Galveston,  the  city  is  governed  by  un- 
usually able  and  unselfish  men,  and  its  citizens  moved  by  an  un- 
common spirit. 

Where  the  people  have  no  vote  in  municipal  affairs,  as  in 
Washington,  conditions  may  present  a  somewhat  different  as- 
pect, and  there  may  well  be  a  question  as  to  the  relative  ad- 
vantages of  a  single  head  or  a  commission  of  three  or  five.  This 
problem  will  demand  attention  later.  Staunton,  Va.,  presents 
the  case  of  a  city  with  one  general  manager. 

Wealth  (Des  Moines),  i:  4-6.  July,  1909. 

Year  under  the  Des  Moines  Plan.     Henry  E.  Sampson. 

The  city  is  now  for  the  first  time  receiving  interest  on  all 
of  her  deposits.  For  the  year  just  past  she  has  been  drawing 
four  per  cent  on  time  deposits  and  two  per  cent  on  daily  balances. 
During  the  course  of  the  first  year  under  the  Des  Moines  plan 
the  interest  on  the  funds  of  the  city  amounted  to  $9,132.17. 

By  making  a  more  favorable  contract  with  the  lighting  com- 
panies the  city  was  able  to  decrease  the  amount  of  its  lighting  bill 
for  the  year  from  $66,243,  what  it  was  under  the  old  system,  to 
$60,694;  a  saving  to  the  city  of  $5,549-  If  the  city  is  successful  in 
the  suit  now  in  litigation  there  will  be  another  substantial  de- 
crease, so  that  the  amount  saved  by  the  city  on  lighting  bills 
for  one  year  will  total  the  sum  of  $10,332.  The  city  has  also  been 
able  to  secure  a  gain  of  1818  hours  per  lamp  per  year  on  603 
lamps,  or  a  total  gain  of  1,126,254  hours. 

Under  the  old  administration  a  contract  was  let  to  pave 
Grand  Avenue  bridge  with  creosote  blocks  at  $4-47  per  sq.  yard; 
under  the  Des  Moines  plan  the  city  did  its  own  work  in  paving 
the  Walnut  Street  bridge  with  the  same  kind  of  material,  at  the 
rate  of  $4.09  per  sq.  yard,  and  saved  the  city  almost  $1200  on  the 
job. 

During  its  last  year  the  old  system  cleaned  2272  catch  basins 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  in 

at  an  average  cost  of  $1.40,  while  under  the  Des  Moines  plan 
3861  catch  basins  were  cleaned  at  an  average  cost  of  $1.12  and 
3-10  cents,  a  saving  to  the  city  of  $1069.25. 

Under  the  new  plan  the  city  was  able  to  put  in  a  culvert  on 
North  Street,  at  a  cost  of  but  $12.63  per  cubic  yard,  while  in 
1907,  one  of  its  contractors  charged  the  old  city  government 
$17.61  per  cubic  yard  for  putting  in  a  similar  kind  of  a  culvert 
on  Easton  Boulevard. 

The  city  has  been  able  to  get  closer  prices  and  the  advantages 
of  a  liberal  discount  since  they  have  begun  to  pay  cash  for  what 
they  buy.  The  total  amount  saved  from  this  source  together 
with  that  which  was  made  during  the  year  by  some  settlements 
amounted  to  almost  $6,000. 

The  superintendent  of  parks  and  public  property  has  been 
renting  the  farms  belonging  to  the  city,  selling  hay,  grain  and 
fruit  grown  on  the  city's  property,  granting  concessions  in  the 
parks  on  good  terms,  and  doing  his  own  mowing  at  three-fourths 
what  it  cost  the  old  park  board  under  the  old  system. 

The  police  department  was  managed  last  year  for  $8,000  less 
than  was  used  the  year  previous,  while  the  health  department  un- 
der the  Des  Moines  plan  was  supported  at  $1,400  less  expense 
than  it  took  under  the  old  system. 

It  will  be  noticed  from  the  above  that  the  introduction  of 
business  methods  into  the  conduct  of  the  city's  affairs  has  been 
one  of  the  things  which  has  thus  far  characterized  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Des  Moines  plan.  Its  businesslike  management  has 
been  in  striking  contrast  with  the  unsatisfactory  administration 
of  public  affairs  under  the  old  system,  and  has  resulted  in  a  sav- 
ing of  thousands  of  dollars  to  tax  payers.  The  commissioners 
are  devoting  their  entire  time,  thought  and  energy  to  the  one 
great  question  of  how  to  use  the  public  funds  entrusted  to  their 
care  in  the  way  most  certain  to  provide  the  greatest  good  to  the 
largest  number  and  at  the  least  expense  to  each  individual  tax 
payer. 

After  a  careful  investigation  of  the  year's  work  the  most  con- 
servative would  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  city  of  Des  Moines 
has  been  economically  managed  in  every  w^ay,  and  that  better 
results  have  been  accompHshed  in  every  department  under  the 
Des  Moines  plan  than  ever  before. 


NEGATIVE  DISCUSSION 

American   Political   Science   Association,   Proceedings,    1906. 
pp.  58-66. 

Newport  Charter.      Rear  Admiral  F.  E.  Chadwick. 

Newport,  with  the  exception  of  three  years,  was  until  1853 
administered  under  the  town-meeting  system.  It  had,  in  1784, 
made  a  trial  of  a  city  charter,  but  it  was  so  unsatisfactory  that  it 
reverted  to  the  town-meeting  three  years  later. 

The  town-meeting  may  thus  be  taken  as  Newport's  form  of 
government  for  two  hundred  and  more  years.  In  1853,  when  a 
new  trial  of  a  charter  was  made,  the  place  had  about  12,000  in- 
habitants, half  its  present  number.  That  it  was  still  not  too 
large  for  the  town-meeting  system  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
Boston  remained  a  town  until  1822,  at  which  time  it  had  43,000 
population,  Brookline,  perhaps  the  most  admirably  administered 
community  in  the  United  States,  remains  a  town,  although  with 
a  population  of  25,000,  and  an  electorate  of  about  4,100. 

Newport,  with  its  city  government  of  the  usual  kind  in  the 
United  States — a  mayor,  a  board  of  five  aldermen  and  a  council 
of  fifteen  members — was  no  worse  ofif  than  most  other  places. 
The  system  is  simply  fundamentally  bad,  and  can,  under  our 
electoral  methods,  only  work  towards  an  oligarchy,  and  this 
oligarchy,  as  a  rule,  made  up,  to  put  it  mildly,  of  not  the  best 
citizens.  Our  cities  have  copied  the  patterns  of  government  es- 
tablished for  the  states,  i.  e.,  a  governor,  a  lower  and  an  upper 
house ;  a  system  excellent  for  a  state  in  which  the  legislature  is 
a  law-making  body,  but  foolish  for  a  town  in  which  the  chief 
concern  is  administration.  So  far  have  we  carried  imitation, 
that  the  mayor  of  the  pettiest  city  now  indulges  in  his  inaugural 
address,  quite  after  the  manner  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

Newport  is  one  of  the  several  small  places  pecuHarly  con- 
ditioned.   It  is  without  manufactures  or  commerce,  and  its  well- 


114  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

being  depends  entirely  upon  the  fact  that  a  large  number  of 
wealthy  people  have  adopted  it  as  a  summer  residence.  This  class 
pays  63  per  cent  of  the  taxes,  the  total  of  which  in  1906  was 
?573-754-8o,  on  a  real  estate  valuation  of  $36,001,600,  and  a  person- 
al of  $11,811,300,  or  a  total  of  about  $48,000,000.  The  tax  rate 
was  $12.00  the  thousand. 

It  would  be  supposed  that  common  sense  would  lead  to  the 
nursing  of  the  goodwill  of  such  a  valuable  element  as  are  our 
summer  residents,  and  this  is  undoubtedly  the  attitude  of  the  mass 
of  our  citizens,  but  there  has  not  been  heretofore  the  intelligence 
in  the  city  government  itself  to  recognize  this.  Broadly  speaking 
there  has  been  not  so  much  an  antagonistic  as  a  careless  attitude 
towards  the  summer  people  on  the  part  of  the  government,  which, 
for  instance,  saw  greater  advantages  in  laying  concrete  sidewalks 
(wholly  at  the  city's  expense,  be  it  said)  in  the  voting  districts, 
than  in  spending  the  money  on  the  upkeep  of  the  roads  so  neces- 
sary for  the  use  of  pleasure  vehicles. 

The  result  of  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  this  crude  and 
unintelligent  attitude  of  the  administrative  authorities  was  the 
formation  in  September,  1905,  of  a  municipal  association  devoted 
to  bettering  municipal  conditions  which  limited  its  membership  to 
those  who  were  wilHng  to  support  principles  which  may  be  con- 
densed as  follows :  the  use  of  the  referendum,  by  which  is  meant 
the  right  and  opportunity  of  the  citizens  to  vote  upon  all  important 
matters  affecting  the  property  and  welfare  of  the  city;  the  careful 
safeguarding  of  the  city's  property  and  franchise  rights  and 
the  conduct  of  its  business  upon  business  principles ;  that  citizen- 
ship involves  a  responsibility  that  can  not  be  evaded  or  ignored 
without  contributing  to  the  forces  of  evil ;  that  by  nominations 
of  its  own  or  through  the  endorsernent  of  nominations  by  others 
the  association  will  seek  to  secure  the  choice  of  the  best  men 
available,  irrespective  of  party. 

The  municipal  election  of  1905  did  not  materially  better 
matters,  and  it  was  determined  by  the  association  to  endeavor  to 
formulate  a  new  charter  which  might  enable  the  city  to  work 
towards  something  better  than  what  it  has  been  experiencing. 
A  committee  of  2^  was  named  by  the  association,  care  being  taken 
to   select  both   political   parties,   and   it   may  be   said  that,   apart 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  115 

from  question  of  races    (and  we  have  many  in  Newport),  that 
the  committee  represented  every  phase  of  our  population. 

In  the  first  offgo,  the  chief  idea  was  to  give  the  mayor 
much  greater  power ;  an  idea  prevalent  everywhere  in  the  United 
States  and  indicative  of  a  weakening  of  the  self-reliance  so 
necessary  to  the  continued  existence  of  popular  government. 
A  vote  in  favor  of  this  extension  of  the  mayor's  power  as  a 
fundamental  was  thus  carried  at  one  of  the  earliest  meetings. 
Inquiries  were  sent  officially  to  various  places  requesting  copies 
cf  new  charters,  and  private  inquiries  were  also  made  by  mem- 
bers. A  letter  from  the  secretary  of  the  City  Club  of  New 
York,  in  response  to  one  of  the  latter,  gave  a  clue  which  re- 
sulted in  the  adoption  of  an  entirely  new  course.  The  secre- 
tary said  he  had  heard  that  Mr.  Alfred  D.  Chandler,  of  Brook- 
line,  Massachusetts,  had  some  particular  views  as  to  charters. 
Correspondence  with  Mr.  Chandler  brought  his  views  developed 
in  a  bill  which  he  had  formulated  for  presentation  to  the  Mas- 
sachusetts legislature,  but  which  was  never  presented.  'This 
proposed  bill  was  the  outcome  of  the  apprehension  of  some 
of  the  prominent  citizens  of  BrookHne  that  the  growth  of  their 
electorate  might  tend  to  make  their  town  meeting  unwieldy.  Sev- 
eral tried  their  hands  on  proposed  charters,  but  Mr.  Chandler's 
draft,  clinging  to  the  town-meeting  principle,  proposed  what  he 
called  a  "limited  town  meeting,"  of  240  persons,  to  be  elected 
by  the  whole  electorate,  and  to  have  the  powers  of  the  full 
town  meeting.  It  was  this  principle  which  the  Newport  committee 
of  the  Municipal  Association  adopted  and  built  upon.  The  re- 
sulting charter,  in  its  essential,  is  broadly  as  follows :  The  gov- 
erning power  is  vested  in  a  body  of  195,  thirty-nine  from  each 
ward,  to  which  is  assigned  the  name  of  Representative  Council, 
which  has  the  powers  in  general  of  a  town  meeting;  the  execu- 
tive, in  a  mayor  and  five  aldermen  (one  alderman  from  each 
ward),  elected  for  one  year;  these,  speaking  generally,  have  the 
powers  of  selectmen  of  a  town.  The  cause  of  the  choice  in 
Newport  of  the  particular  number,  195,  for  the  Representative 
Council,  was  due  to  the  wards  being  five  in  number ;  to  the  mak- 
ing the  term  of  office  three  years  ;  and  to  the  renewal  of  one- 
third  of  the  Council  yearly.     This  number  was  also  regarded  as 


ii6  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

a  fair  mean ;  as  not  too  large  for  orderly  procedure,  and  large 
enough  to  be  fairly  representative  of  all  classes  in  a  place  of 
25,000  inhabitants.  In  a  larger  town  it  could  very  properly  be 
raised  to  as  many  say  as  300,  which  would  not  at  all  be  exces- 
sive, there  being  many  deliberative  bodies  in  the  world  of  such 
numbers. 

It  was  arranged  that  in  the  first  election  nominations  should 
be  made  of  thirteen  members  for  one  year,  and  the  same  number 
for  two  and  for  three  years;  thereafter  thirteen  new  mem- 
bers would  be  elected  each  year  in  each  ward.  Under  the  con- 
stitution of  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  no  person  is  allowed  to 
vote  in  the  election  of  the  city  council  of  any  city,  or  upon  any 
proposition  to  impose  a  tax  or  for  the  expenditure  of  money 
in  any  town  or  city,  unless  he  shall  within  the  year  next  pre- 
ceding have  paid  a  tax  assessed  upon  property  valued  at  least 
at  $134.  This  confines  the  votes  for  members  of  the  Represen- 
tative Council  to  about  3,800  of  the  5,100  of  the  general  elec- 
torate of  the  city.  The  only  persons  under  the  law  voted  for 
by  the  whole  of  the  electorate  are  the  mayor  and  school  board; 
the  aldermen  were  placed  by  the  charter  under  those  voted  for  by 
the  tax-paying  vote. 

The  election,  in  order  to  separate  it  from  party  elections, 
is  fixed  for  the  first  Monday  in  December;  nomination  papers 
are  filed  with  the  city  clerk  at  least  twelve  days  before  this 
date ;  all  candidates  must  give  a  written  acceptance  of  candidacy ; 
thirty  signatures  at  least  of  tax-paying  voters  in  the  ward  are 
necessary  to  nominate  for  the  Representative  Council ;  one 
hundred  of  tax-paying  voters  of  the  city  to  nominate  for  alder- 
men ;  one  hundred  of  the  general  electorate  to  nominate  for  the 
school  committee;  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  general 
electorate  to  nominate  for  mayor.  No  one  can  sign  the  papers 
of  more  persons  than  he  is  allowed  to  vote  for.  Though  the 
aldermen  must  be  residents  of  the  wards  for  which  they  stand, 
they  are  voted  for  by  the  whole  of  the  tax-paying  voters  of  the 
city;  the  influence  of  ward  feeling  which  so  foolishly  and  un- 
reasonably exists  is  thus  largely  eliminated  in  the  election. 
Nothing  can  appear  upon  the  nomination  papers  except  the  name, 
residence  and  acceptance  of  the  candidate,  the  office  for  which 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  iir 

nominated,  and  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  nominators 
Nothing  can  appear  upon  the  ballots  except  the  name  of  the 
candidate,  his  residence,  the  office  for  which  nominated,  and 
such  other  non-political  facts  as  the  laws  of  the  state  require. 

The  Representative  Council  meets  the  first  Monday  in  Jan- 
uary, or  at  such  times  as  it  may  adjourn  to;  it  must  also  meet 
upon  the  written  request  of  twenty-five  members  or  upon  the 
request  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen ;  such  requests  to  be  filed  with 
the  city  clerk ;  it  chooses  its  own  chairman ;  the  city  clerk  is 
the  clerk  also  of  the  Council ;  it  determines  its  own  rules  and 
judges  of  the  election  of  its  members;  its  meetings  must  be  with 
open  doors  and  its  records  open  to  public  inspection ;  any 
tax  payer  or  voter  may  speak,  but  unless  a  member,  shall  not 
vote  at  its  meetings ;  no  compensation  is  allowed  its  members. 

The  Representative  Council  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
elects  a  city  treasurer,  a  city  clerk,  a  judge  of  probate,  a  pro- 
bate clerk,  a  collector  of  taxes,  a  city  solicitor,  an  assessor  of 
taxes,  and  all  such  other  city  officers  provided  by  law  or  as  may 
,be  necessary  and  proper.  It  may  delegate  to  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men the  election  of  any  officers  not  specially  named,  or  by  special 
act  required  to  be  elected  by  the  Council ;  it  fixes  salaries  and 
defines  the  duties  of  officers ;  it  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
all  the  members  remove  an  officer  for  misconduct  or  incapacity. 

A  very  important  procedure  was  taken  from  the  usage  of 
Brookline.  On  the  first  meeting  in  January,  the  chairman  of 
the  Representative  Council  appoints  a  committee  of  twenty-five 
members,  five  from  each  ward,  to  consider  the  budget  for  the 
ensuing  year,  and  make  report  to  an  adjourned  meeting.  This 
report  must  be  printed  and  distributed  to  all  tax-paying  voters 
at  least  seven  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Council  to  con- 
sider it.  Every  one  is  thus  fully  informed  in  regard  to  the 
proposed  expenditure  before  the  subject  comes  to  a  vote.  A 
vote  of  the  Council  in  favor  of  any  proposition  involving  the 
expenditure  of  ten  thousand  dollars  or  more  does  not  become 
operative  for  seven  days ;  if  in  this  time  a  petition  be  filed  with 
the  city  clerk,  signed  by  at  least  ten  qualified  electors  from  each 
ward,  in  addition  to  at  least  one  hundred  qualified  electors  of 
the  city,  the  question  must  be  submitted  to  the  people.     A  peti- 


ii8  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

tion  of  a  hundred  qualified  electors  may  also  oblige  the  Council 
to  consider  a  question  involving  an  expenditure  exceeding  ten 
thousand  dollars ;  if  this  be  disapproved  by  the  Council,  a  refer- 
endum to  the  people  may  be  called  for  by  twice  the  number  of 
petitioners  in  the  preceding  case. 

The  mayor  is  president  and,  ex-officio,  a  ^member  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  The  mayor  may  investigate  all  depart- 
ments and  has  power  to  suspend  any  city  official,  and  bring  the 
case  before  the  whole  Board  of  Aldermen.  If  the  board  sus- 
tain the  charges,  the  official  is  dismissed;  if  not,  he  is  restored 
to  duty.  The  official  has  ten  days,  however,  in  which  to  take 
appeal  to  the  Representative  Council,  whose  action  is  final. 

The  Board  of  Aldermen  form  the  several  committees  for  the 
administration  of  the  city  departments;  it  reports  their  con- 
dition, with  recommendations,  annually  to  the  Representative 
Council,  which  report  must  be  published;  it  also  attends  the 
meetings  of  the  Council  and  gives  such  information  as  may  be 
required.  The  mayor  and  ajdermen  receive  salaries  to  be  fixed 
by  the  Council,  but  may  receive  no  other  compensation  for 
services  rendered  the  city;  they  may  not  be  interested  in  any 
city  contract  nor  may  any  of  them,  stockholders  in  a  corporation, 
vote  upon  a  proposition  or  with  reference  to  a  contract  between 
the  city  and  such  corporation. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  system  developed  in  this  charter  is 
one  of  extreme  simplicity.  It  unites  all  legislative  power  in  a 
single  body,  and  establishes  a  small  committee  to  carry  the  au- 
thority of  this  body  into  effect ;  it  brings  back  to  the  people 
in  a  very  effective  degree  the  authority  which  has  been  taken 
from  them  by  political  rings  and  combines ;  it  separates  the 
municipal  from  state  and  national  elections ;  it  separates  the 
power  authorizing  the  spending  of  money,  from  the  power  which 
expends,  thus  vastly  increasing  the  difficulty  of  a  vicious  com- 
bine; in  the  words  of  the  "Explanatory  Statement"  which  ac- 
companied the  act  when  brought  before  the  legislature,  it  "is 
absolutely  open  to  the  knowledge  of  all  the  people;  gives  the 
right  to  every  one  to  speak  upon  any  proposition ;  allows  no 
opportunity  to  stifle  any  question  ;  makes  it  easy  for  any  one  to 
bring  forward  any   subject  for  consideration;   opens  the  Inidget 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  119 

to  full  inspection  and  discussion  by  the  people  before  it  is 
adopted ;  in  a  word,  makes  the  public  the  master  it  should  be  in 
all  questions  affecting  its  civic  welfare."  It  does  all  this  and 
effectively,  in  case  the  people  are  equal  to  governing  themselves. 
My  own  belief  is  that  they  are.  I  have  a  firm  faith  in  the 
wish  and  capacity  of  the  mass  of  men,  if  their  hands  are  free, 
to  do  that  which  is  best  for  their  community.  Were  this  not 
so,  it  is  plain  that  we  should  always  be  on  the  retrograde.  Our 
political  woes  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  public  will  has  not 
free  expression  in  our  country  today,  in  either  national,  state,  or 
municipal  questions.  It  is  the  oligarchic  rule  which  permeates 
our  system,  which  is  our  bane.  The  great  problem  is  to  get  back 
to  the  people ;  in  the  Newport  charter  I  believe  we  have  done 
this  for  Newport,  effectively. 

It  is  of  course  vain  to  hope  that  partisan  politics  will  all 
at  once,  or  perhaps  ever,  wholly  be  eliminated.  The  idea  of 
always  lining  up  on  party  lines  has  become  too  deeply  ingrained 
in  the  less  thoughtful  of  our  electorate  throughout  the  country 
to  expect  this  and  there  are  sure  to  be  many  representatives 
in  the  council  to  whom  petty  likes  and  dislikes  will  be  much 
more  than  the  city's  welfare.  How  great  the  influence  of  such 
feeling  is,  was  shown  in  the  charter  election  December  4,  when, 
with  three  exceptions,  the  representatives  of  the  summer  resi- 
dents, our  chief  tax  payers,  failed  of  election.  Our  electorate 
is  not  wise  or  broad  enough  to  see  the  unfairness  of  refusing 
representation  to  such  an  interest,  and  that  such  action  prac- 
tically establishes  "taxation  without  representation," 

A  short  comparison  of  our  Newport  charter  with  its  most 
antipodal  one  of  Galveston,  is  not  inappropriate.  This  latter 
replaces  a  government  of  a  mayor  and  sixteen  aldermen  with  one 
by  five  commissioners.  Three  of  these  were  in  the  first  offgo 
appointed  by  the  governor,  but  a  question  as  to  the  constitution- 
ality of  this  procedure,  on  the  ground  that  the  citizens  had  no 
voice  in  the  selection  of  the  officers  administering  their  govern- 
ment, being  decided  adversely,  the  whole  five  are  now  elective. 
With  these  five  rest  all  the  powers  of  the  city:  the  selection 
of  officers,  the  establishment  of  ordinances,  the  levying  and 
assessment  of  taxes,  and  all  administrative  functions.     Thus  far 


120  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  scheme  has  been  very  successful ;  this  success  being  one  of 
course  due  wholly  to  the  character  of  the  commissioners.  The 
great  question  is  how  long  the  city  will  be  able  to  elect  such. 
It  is  safe  to  predict  that  it  will  end,  as  all  such  efforts,  if  ex- 
perience teaches  anything,  in  the  election  of  the  seeker  after 
power,  and  the  city  in  the  hands  of  its  five  administrators  and 
governors  will  be  no  better  off  than  in  the  hands  of  its  former 
sixteen. 

Defects  of  Commission  Plan.     Prof.  F.  I.  Herriott. 

City  government,  although  it  is  not,  as  is  to  be  generally 
assumed,  easy  to  conduct  as  a  bank,  must  be  managed  upon 
business  principles.  By  business  principles  we  mean  methods  of 
procedure  whereby  men  obtain  the  maximum  of  benefits,  income 
or  profits  with  the  minimum  of  expense.  The  result  can  onh^ 
be  secured  by  efficiency  in  administration. 

In  these  days  efficiency  is  dependent  upon  division  of  labor 
and  central,  uniform  control  and  management.  Instead  of  hav- 
ing one  man  and  all  men  doing  or  trying  to  do  everything 
and  anything,  we  separate  and  specialize.  A  man  confines  him- 
self to  particular  tasks  and  does  this  or  that  kind  of  work  and 
iiothing  else.  Such  sub-division  of  work  develops  and  requires 
experts  or  specialists.  To  become  an  expert  takes  a  long  ap- 
prenticeship or  systematic  education  and  study.  One  who  be- 
comes trained  thus,  who  becomes  an  expert  or  specialist,  is 
the  exceptional  man  in  a  community  or  state.  There  are  but 
few,  if  any,  besides  him  who  possess  such  skill  or  technical 
knowledge.  He  does  not  care  much  for  popular  opinion,  be- 
cause he  knows  that  the  average  man  does  not  know  what  he 
knows  and  cannot  know  unless  he  undergoes  a  similar  apprentice- 
ship or  education.  The  expert  civil  engineer  that  1)ridges  the 
canyons  of  Colorado  or  tunnels  the  mountains  despises  public 
opinion  as  worthless.  The  public  says  the  thing  cannot  be  done; 
the  engineer  does  it  nevertheless. 

Caring  nothing  for.  if  not  despising  public  opinion,  cities 
cannot  secure  such  expert  abihty  in  administration  by  popular 
election.  No  specialist  will  coddle  the  public  to  secure  his  elec- 
tion ;   he  will  not   stultify  himself,    either,  by   reversing  his   real 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  121 

opinion  on  scientific  or  technical  matters ;  and  he  will  not  ask 
its  suffrages  and  undergo  the  horrible  mud-slinging  of  political 
campaigns.  He  will  serve  the  pubHc,  but  only  on  certain  con- 
ditions. 

If  we  would  secure  the  expert  in  city  administration,  we  must 
obtain  his  services  by  selection  or  appointment  and  insuring  him 
certainty  or  permanency  of  authority,  responsibility  and  support. 
We  cannot  secure  him  or  his  services  in  any  other  way — because 
city  governments  are  subject  to  the  same -conditions  that  control 
in  private  or  corporate  business  enterprises ;  and  only  in  this  way 
do  successful  business  houses  obtain  specialists  and  benefit  from 
their  services. 

The  Galveston  plan  proposes  and  its  advocates  maintain  that 
we  secure  by  popular  election  at  least  four  city  officers  to  take 
charge  of  the  technical  departments  of  city  administration.  \iz.: 
commissioners  of  "Streets  and  Public  Property,"  of  "Police  and 
Fire,"  of  "Finance,"  of  "Water  Works  and  Sewage."  In  ^ach  case 
success  in  the  conduct  of  such  departments  requires  expert  abili- 
ty, either  long  familiarity  with  and  training  in  such  lines,  or 
technical  knowledge  and  special  skill.  Universal  experience 
shows  that  we  cannot  get  such  servants  by  resort  to  the  polls, 
with  the  frightful  hair-pulling  and  dirt-throwing  of  city  cam- 
paigns. For  a  brief  spell,  perhaps,  we  might  succeed  in  getting 
men  of  high  average  ability,  because  in  the  first  flush  of  the 
revival  of  civic  virtue  incident  to  such  a  radical  change  we  should 
compel,  by  draft  as  it  were,  prominent  and  successful  men  to 
take  the  offices.  But  such  a  condition  would  not  last.  Public 
fervor  would  soon  decline,  and  then  poor  men,  then  bad  men, 
would  get  control,  as  sure  as  two  and  two  make  four. 

The  Galveston  plan  cuts  at  the  very  roots  of  official  account- 
ability and  responsibility ;  and,  strangely  enough,  it  is  because 
the  advocates  believe  that  the  reform  enhances  or  secures  re- 
sponsible control  that  they  urge  it. 

Under  its  method  we  first  attempt  to  secure  by  election  ex- 
perts, which  we  seldom  or  never  can  do.  Thereupon  these  so- 
called  experts,  by  agreement  or  disagreement,  by  lot  or  by  bal- 
lot, assign  each  man  to  that  particular  department  to  which 
they  beHeve  he  is  best  fitted.     It  will  be  a  marvel  if  bickering 


122  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

envy  and  spite  do  not  develop  vigorously  in  determining  such 
assignments.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  such  a 
method  of  election  or  assignment  will  deprive  a  city  of  the 
services  of  experts  in  our  technical  departments. 

Another  most  serious  defect  is  the  fact  that  the  commission 
must,  if  it  fulfills  its  purposes,  constantly  upset  accountability. 
The  commissioners  are  expected  not  only  to  legislate  or  pass 
ordinances,  but  at  the  same  time  to  "manage"  or  conduct  the 
business  of  the  city.  Now,  they  cannot  do  this  without  con- 
stantly and  seriously  intruding  into  the  several  departments. 
If  this  is  done,  accountability  or  responsibiHty  cannot  be  en- 
forced on  the  part  of  the  man  in  charge  of  the  department  in- 
terfered with. 

Accountability  means  that  a  man  charged  with  a  task  or  piece 
of  work  is  looked  to  as  individually  responsible  for  its  perform- 
ance. He  alone  and  no  one  else  is  held  therefor.  He  cannot 
divide  or  split  his  responsibility,  nor  can  he  lend  or  hand  it 
around.  It  is  specific,  direct  and  personal.  Furthermore,  if 
the  expert  is  to  be  held  accountable,  he  must  be  given  funds 
and  power  or  authority  to  take  full  charge  and  fulfill  without 
let  or  hindrance  the  specific  duty  required.  If  some  one  has 
power  to  intervene,  and  does  so  interpose,  he  can  neither  be  held 
accountable  nor  responsible. 

The  Galveston  commissioners  can  thus  interfere  at  any  time 
and  in  any  way  with  the  work  of  the  several  departments.  If 
they  do  not,  then  they  do  not  exercise  their  double  function 
of  legislation  and  execution.  Each  man  gets  complete  control 
of  his  department  and  they  severally  leave  each  other  alone. 
Again,  they  may  by  collusion  agree  to  let  each  man  run  his  own 
department  as  he  pleases,  for  reasons  far  from  righteous.  With 
so  much  power  it  will  not  be  strange  if  unholy  alliances  develop. 

The  passage  of  the  budget  bills  and  regulative  ordinances 
will  produce  "war"  if  nothing  else  does.  Each  man  will  seek  and 
demand  more  funds  and  more  authority  or  power.  But  funds 
and  authority  will  be  limited.  All  cannot  get  what  each  insists 
upon.  Who  will  recede?  Who  must  give  way?  Debate  will 
generate  heat ;  heat  produces  fire ;  and  fire  burns  and  scorches  ; 
and  concord  that  we  are  assured  will   necessarily  prevail  under 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  123 

the  new  plan  will  go  glimmering  and  the  taxpayers  will  find 
themselves  helpless  in  the  clutches  of  men  who  both  pass  the  ordi- 
nances and  budget  bills  and  also  attend  personally  to  their  exe- 
cution and  administration. 

We  doubt  if  a  more  dangerous  measure  was  ever  urged  upon 
the  public  than  the  Galveston  plan,  whereby  the  traditions  of 
our  law  and  people  are  thus  upset. 

Defects  of  the  Des  Moines  Plan.     Charles  O.  Holly. 

Partially  to  summarize  the  defects  of  this  law : 

1.  The  old  law  prohibits  secret  sessions  of  the  council,  and 
the  new  law  allows  all  sessions  of  the  council  to  be  secret. 

2.  The  law  dealing  with  franchises,  if  it  does  not  leave  the 
renewals  and  extensions  entirely  to  the  city  council,  at  least 
leaves  the  question  in  doubt. 

3.  Section  8  of  the  law  gives  each  member  of  the  city  coun- 
cil all  power  and  authority  over  each  and  every  official  in  the  city, 
and  it  also  gives  this  power  to  the  council  jointly  as  among  its 
members.    This  has  a  tendency  to  create  confusion. 

4.  In  some  places  the  law  reduces  the  criminal  penalties  for 
violatioa  of  the  election  laws.  These  penalties  were  not  very 
severe  originally,  and  they  should  have  been  made  more  severe. 

5.  The  law,  as  it  originally  was,  obliges  certain  public  offi- 
cials to  give  bonds:  and  under  the  new  law,  no  bonds  are  re- 
quired of  any  public  official. 

6.  The  law  leaves  the  "initiative  and  referendum"  and  the 
"recall"  almost  entirely  within  the  power  of  the  city  council. 
This  can  be  determined  by  consulting  carefully  Section  18  of  the 
new  law. 

7.  There  is  no  provision  in  the  law  for  putting  a  candidate 
on  the  ticket  as  against  one  to  be  recalled. 

8.  Also  there  is  no  provision  in  the  law  for  any  registration 
whatever  prior  to  the  vote  and  for  use  in  voting  at  the  primary 
nominating  candidates. 

9.  There  is  no  provision  at  all  in  the  law  to  protect  candi- 
dates in  the  selection  of  judges  of  election.  The  only  officials 
we  elect  under  the  new  law  are  five,  four  councilmen  and  a  mayor. 
If  the  councilmen  and  mayor  desire  an  election,  and  in  my  city 


124  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

they  always  do,  under  this  law,  they  are  allowed  to  organize 
the  entire  election  board,  and  to  put  any  one  on  these  boards  that 
they  see  fit  in  each  voting  precinct.  This  may  not  be  exactly 
true  as  I  have  stated  it,  but  it  is  true  to  all  practical  purposes, 
as  will  be  seen  on  consulting  the  law.  If  the  law  were  absolute- 
ly perfect  in  every  other  respect,  this  one  defect  ought  to  condemn 
it. 

City  not  a  Business  Corporation.     Vincent  Starzinger. 

Advocates  of  the  commission  plan  attempt  to  draw  an  analo- 
gy between  the  city  and  a  business  corporation.  But  there  is 
a  vast  difference  between  the  two.  The  prime  object  of  the 
latter  is  private  gain,  and  its  efficiency  is  usually  dependent  upon 
the  spur  of  personal  interest.  On  the  other  hand,  the  city,  even 
though  it  may  be  subordinate  to  the  state,  presents  a  problem 
of  government  in  which  the  human  element,  such  as  the  every- 
day well-being,  schooling,  hygiene,  and  the  general  happiness 
of  a  vast  community  of  men,  women,  and  children,  is  ever 
present.  And  so  the  courts  have  held  again  and  again  that  the 
city  is  primarily  governmental.  In  the  words  of  Judge  Dillon, 
"a  municipal  corporation  is  essentially  public  and  political  in 
character." 

But  even  a  greedy  private  corporation  has  a  separate  body, 
its  board  of  directors,  to  legislate,  to  determine  policies,  to  criti- 
cize the  executive,  and  to  safeguard  the  stockholders.  Where 
this  principle  is  not  observed,  the  result  is  usually  disastrous, 
and  the  only  safeguards  of  the  stockholders  become  governmen- 
tal intervention, — almost  to  the  extent  of  management. 

Commission:  Not  a  Superior  Legislative  Body. 
Vincent  Starzinger. 

The  contention  is  made  that  the  commissioners,  being  at 
the  heads  of  the  various  departments  and  knowing  thoroughly 
the  needs  of  the  cit3%  will  furnish  superior  legislation. 

The  argument  is  ingenious  but  a  little  reflection  shows  it 
to  be  fallacious. 

Legislation,  being  the  determination  of  policy,  precedes  and 
becomes  a  foundation   for  administration,  which  is  the  carrving 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  125 

out  of  that  policy.  The  essential  thing  in  legislation  is  that 
it  reflects  the  will  of  the  people.  "Should  the  city  levy  a  bridge 
tax?"  Such  questions  as  this  should  be  decided  only  after  the 
differing  interests  and  prejudices  have  been  considered  and  crys- 
tallized. 

Now  the  ability  to  administrate  usually  precludes  the  abili- 
ty to  legislate  and  vice  versa.  To  illustrate,  an  efficient  legis- 
lator must  be  a  representative  of  the  people,  responsive  to  their 
will.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prerequisites  for  efficient  adminis- 
tration are  stability  and  continuity  and  technical  skill  and  knowl- 
edge. When  we  place  the  performance  of  both  functions  in 
the  hands  of  one  man,  we  sacrifice  one  or  the  other,  usually  both. 

It  is  especially  unsafe  to  entrust  legislation  to  administra- 
tors. They  very  naturally  exalt  and  magnify  their  depart- 
ments. Says  F.  R.  Clow,  one  of  the  foremost  authorities  on 
city  finance,  "The  estimates  of  the  department  chiefs  invariably 
call  for  expenditures  beyond  the  city's  means  of  payment." 
Worst  of  all  each  commissioner,  knowing  little  of  the  other 
departments,  will  naturally  take  the  word  of  its  administrative 
head,  especially  since  he  desires  the  same  freedom. 

And  finally,  while  it  cannot  be  said  that  knowledge  of  ad- 
ministration is  of  no  benefit  in  legislation,  yet  the  necessary 
information  can  be  secured  without  completely  fusing  both 
functions  in  one  small  body.  In  the  European  cities,  this  is 
done  by  making  the  administrative  officials  responsible  to  the 
council.  In  a  number  of  American  cities,  it  is  done  by  having 
the  cabinet  meet  and  cooperate  with  the  legislative  body.  There 
would  be  nothing  to  be  gained  by  withholding  the  information 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  'the  city's  government  has  full  benefit 
of  the  training  and  skill  of  the  executive  officials  without  con- 
fusing legislation  and  administration  in  a  small  executive  cabi- 
net. 

Superior  Legislation.     Vincent  Starzinger. 

Now  let  us  get  our  bearings  once  for  all  on  this  ingenious 
argument  that  the  commission  form  furnishes  superior  legisla- 
tion. The  contention  is,  of  course,  that  these  commissioners  will 
more  ably  legislate  because  they  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of 


126  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

the  city's  needs,  because  they  represent  the  whole  city,  and  have 
the  interests  of  the  whole  city  at  heart,  and  because  they  act 
with  dispatch  in  time  of  crises. 

The  fallacy  of  the  contention  rests  in  the  very  structure  of 
the  commission  form  itself.  It  is  continually  urged  by  those 
favoring  this  plan  that  the  commissioners  are  in  touch  with  the 
needs  of  their  departments.  Why  don't  they  say  that  these  com- 
missioners are  in  touch  with  all  the  needs  of  the  entire  city? 
This  is  what  the  commissioners  must  be  if  they  are  to  pass 
anything  like  superior  legislation.  Their  power  is  absolute. 
Right  here  is  where  the  mistake  is  made.  The  legislation  or 
policy  determining  for  one  department  is  done  by  the  whole 
commission.  The  individual  commissioners  are  at  most  only 
administrators.  Now,  no  man  would  for  a  moment  contend  that 
any  single  man  could  know  the  needs  of  a  city  with  2,000,000 
souls.  How  does  this  work  out?  One  of  two  things  hap- 
pens. There  is  ignorant  and  unscientific  dabbling  by  one  com- 
missioner with  the  affairs  of  another  department,  or  practically 
absolute  freedom  for  each  commissioner  to  do  what  he  pleases. 
Des  Moines  furnishes  both  kinds  of  examples.  At  one  time, 
intermeddling  became  so  pernicious  that  the  city  carpenter  re- 
signed in  disgust,  saying  that  every  time  he  picked  up  a  saw 
under  the  instruction  of  the  street  commissioners,  Police  Commis- 
sioner Hamery  would  tell  him  to  drop  it  and  pick  up  a  hammer. 
Then  the  reaction  set  in  as  it  will  in  every  case  where  legislation 
is  intrusted  to  administrators. 

In  Galveston,  today,  for  instance,  not  one  cent  is  derived 
from  the  existence  of  valuable  franchises.  Is  this  the  superior 
legislation  of  which  friends  of  the  commission  idea  speak?  What 
do  you  and  I  care  how  much  a  commissioner  may  represent  the 
whole  city  and  how  he  has  the  interest  of  the  city  at  heart,  if 
the  form  of  government  inherently  makes  the  demonstration  of 
that  interest  even  worse  than  inferior  legislation?  Superior 
legislation  is  not  to  be  gained  through  the  attempted  election 
of  administration  experts  under  a  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  127 

Texas  Bulletin  (University  of).  June  i,  1905. 

Some    Fundamental    Political    Principles  •  Applied    to    Municipal 
Government. 

Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  failure  or  success,  there  is 
evidently  something  wrong.  If  there  were  municipal  evils  in  only 
a  few  places  here  and  there,  and  only  at  intervals  or  occasional- 
ly, there  would  be  little  cause  for  concern.  But  when  we  find 
these  evils  from  Boston  to  San  Francisco,  from  Minneapolis 
to  New  Orleans,  when  we  find  them  persisting  year  after  year, 
when  we  find  them  in  country  towns  as  well  as  in  manufacturing 
and  commercial  centers,  when  we  find  them  not  in  some  one 
part,  but  in  all  parts  of  the  municipal  organization,  and  adjusting 
themselves  seemingly  to  every  turn  and  condition,  the  conclusion 
is  absolutely  forced  upon  us  that  there  is  something  wrong,  and 
radically  wrong. 

And  yet,  at  the  same  time,  there  is  among  the  people  generally 
the  greatest  indefiniteness  and  bewilderment  as  to  what  the  real, 
ultimate  trouble  is.  We  know  the  evils  well  enough — corruption 
and  inefficiency ;  we  know  them,  not  merely  in  a  general  way, 
but  we  know  the  details  even  unto  satiety.  We  know  the  how 
and  when  and  where,  but  as  regards  the  why  there  are  few  that 
have  traced  the  evils  beyond  individual  human  ignorance  and 
human  greed.  Few  have  traced  them  back  into  the  social  con- 
ditions and  political  organization  and  told  us  really  why. 

At  the  same  time  let  me  call  attention  to  a  remarkable  con- 
trast. In  the  national  system  of  government  we  have  a  constitu- 
tion admired  by  foreigners  and  reverenced  by  our  own  people — a 
document  declared  to  be  the  most  perfect  work  wrought  by  the 
minds  of  men  in  the  realm  of  politics.  So  far  as  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  government  is  concerned  the  constitution  has  stood 
unchanged  through  all  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  of  a  hundred 
and  seventeen  years,  during  which  time  the  population  has  grown 
from  four  to  eighty  millions,  the  area  has  doubled,  and  the  arts 
and  sciences  have  transformed  the  conditions  of  civilized  life 
and  activity.  Contrast  the  above  attitude  with  that  toward  our 
city  charters — our  municipal  constitutions — all  over  this  country : 
dissatisfaction,  criticism,  and  amendment,  not  only  occasionally 


128  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

and  in  minor  points,  but  frequently,  and  often  of  the  most  radical 
character  as  regards  the  form  of  organization,  the  election 
of  officers,  and  the  distribution  of  powers. 

But  some  will  answer,  city  government  is  different  from  that 
of  the  state  or  nation ;  that  state  or  national  government  is  a 
matter  of  poHtics,  while  city  government  is  a  matter  of  business. 
But  what  is  politics?  What  is  business?  To  my  mind,  politics 
means  the  determination  of  policies,  the  deciding  of  what  ought 
to  be  done  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people.  And  business, 
is  merely  synonymous  with  money-making,  it  has  no  place  in 
American  government.  In  France  the  government  manufactures 
and  sells  tobacco  as  a  source  of  revenue,  but  that  principle  is 
foreign  to  us.  The  question  of  establishing  a  city  waterworks 
system  is  one  of  policy,  to  be  determined  according  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  people;  and  when  it  has  been  determined  in 
the  affirmative,  the  questions  arising  in  connection  with  the  es- 
tablishing and  running  of  the  system  should  be  solved  according 
to  the  same  principle — not  with  a  view  to  making  as  much  money 
as  possible,  but  to  advance  the  public  welfare. 

There  can  be  no  difference  in  the  nature  of  government  between 
that  of  the  city  and  that  of  the  state  or  nation.  It  is  still  govern- 
ment, and  nothing  but  government.  Government  is  the  organ  of 
society  politically  organized,  and  the  characteristic  of  political  or- 
ganization, or  of  governmental  function,  is  compulsion.  It  says 
"Thou  shalt"  or  "Thou  shalt  not" ;  and  compels  obedience  or 
disobedience  by  force.  This  is  just  as  characteristic  of  municipal 
as  of  state  or  national  government.  The  only  reason  for  mak- 
ing any  distinction  between  the  two  as  regards  business  charac- 
ter is  that  municipal  conditions  are  such  that  municipal  govern- 
ments are  entering  more  and  more  upon  the  management  of  pub- 
lic utilities ;  utiHties,  however,  that  are  all  monopoHstic  in  their 
nature,  and  consequently  are  often  run,  when  owned  by  private 
corporations,  in  a  manner  less  conducive  to  the  public  welfare 
than  the  people  have  a  right  to  demand.  But  this  is  a  secondary 
element,  and  does  not  change  the  fundamental  character  of  the 
government,  and  the  strict  application  to  it  of  democratic  prin- 
ciples. 

Perhaps,  however,  some  will  say  that  the  government  remains 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  129 

democratic  so  long  as  the  people  select  the  officers.  I  insist  that 
democratic  government  means  government  ^3;  the  people  ;  it  does 
not  mean  that  the  people  elect  a  man  and  he  governs.  That  is 
a  monarchy:  monarchy  need  not  be  hereditary;  it  may  be  elec- 
tive. The  question  is  whether  it  is  the  will  of  the  people,  or  the 
will  of  the  officer,  that  is  carried  into  effect ;  and  no  government 
is  democratic  no  matter  what  form  it  may  boast,  that  does  not 
give  effect,  necessarily  and  absolutely,  to  the  will  of  the  people. 
But  it  may  be  said,  the  commission  does  give  effect  to  the  will 
of  the  people.  This  is,  of  course,  true  to  a  considerable  degree, 
but  so  also  does  a  monarch  for  the  most  part  give  effect  to  the 
will  of  his  people ;  otherwise  they  would  rebel.  The  question 
is  not,  as  it  might  seem  to  be,  merely  a  question  of  willingness 
on  the  part  of  those  in  office  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  people ; 
granting  this,  there  remains  the  difficulty  that  officers  or  monarchs 
cannot  carry  out  that  will  unless  they  know  it,  and  only  so  far 
as  they  know  it.  It  is  often  true  in  the  case  of  a  monarch  that  he 
is  deceived  or  deceives  himself,  as  to  the  real  will  of  the  people. 
x-\nd  here  is  the  chief  objection,  from  the  standpoint  of  democ- 
racy, to  sub.stituting  a  commission  for  a  city  council,  a  state  leg- 
islature, or  the  national  congress,  namely,  that  a  commission  can 
not  know  as  accurately  as  these  bodies  the  will  of  the  people  in 
order  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

Another  decisive  objection  to  a  commission  is  that  it  confuses, 
even  worse  than  is  done  at  present,  the  legislative  and  ex- 
ecutive functions.  In  form  a  commission  is  an  executive  body, 
small  and  compact,  organized  for  doing  things,  and  yet  there  is 
conferred  upon  it  the  whole  municipal  legislative  function,  of 
deciding  what  shall  be  done.  This  matter  of  the  separation  of 
the  executive  and  legislative  functions,  and  its  fundamental  im- 
portance, will  be  taken  up  farther  on  in  discussing  the  powers 
and  position  of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  of  the  heads  of 
executive  departments.  Here  I  wish  only  to  state  distinctly  that 
by  legislative  function  I  do  not  mean  merely  the  passing  of 
ordinances ;  I  mean  the  determination  of  policies,  the  deciding  of 
what  shall  be  done,  whether  expressed  by  ordinances,  resolution, 
or  otherwise,  to  which  is  accessory  the  exclusive  power  of  mak- 
ing appropriations. 


130  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

I  have  just  said  that  we  want  a  city  government  so  constituted 
as  to  effect  two  things :  first,  give  expression  most  accurately  to 
the  will  of  the  people,  and  secondly,  carry  that  will  into  effect  in 
the  most  efficient  manner.  We  have  here  indicated  the  most 
fundamental  characteristic  of  the  government — the  separation  of 
the  legislative  and  executive  functions — a  separation  of  the  func- 
tion of  deciding  what  shall  be  done  from  that  of  doing  it. 

Commission  is  an  Oligarchy.     Walter  A.  Webster. 

A  commission  is  government  by  a  small  oligarchy,  even  though 
chosen  by  the  people.  It  is  a  form  of  benevolent  paternalism 
that  confesses  incompetency  in  representative  government.  The 
history  of  the  development  of  all  organizations,  whether  govern- 
ments, church  heirarchies,  secret  organizations,  or  what  not, 
shows  that  when  a  few  men  are  vested  with  extraordinary  power 
their  power  becomes  centralized  and  extremely  difficult  to 
dislodge.  There  is  every  reason  for  believing  that  government 
by  commission  will  operate  very  quickly  toward  this  end.  If 
it  does  not  it  will  be  an  exception  to  a  universal  rule. 

A  commission  is  a  small  body.  It  is  almost  a  maxim  that 
the  smaller  the  body  the  easier  it  is  to  reach  and  influence. 
Financial  inducements  are  not  the  only  bait  used  for  public  men. 
Ambition  and  selfishness  influence  more  men  than  money,  and 
humanity  is  still  powerfully  affected  by  party,  race,  and  religion. 
A  small  board  is  also  very  often  dominated  by  one  man  of  strong 
will,  or  by  a  small  clique,  which  is  to  be  deprecated  even  though 
they  be  business  men  or  so-called  leading  citizens.  So  too. 
small  bodies  have  a  tendency  to  perpetuate  themselves  and  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  prevent  it. 

When  a  few  men  gather  around  a  table  continually  to  solve 
problems,  there  is  a  tendency  finally  to  get  into  a  rut  and  X  by 
custom  looks  after  one  thing,  Y  after  another  and  Z  after 
another,  and  if  things  go  apparently  right,  no  one  bothers  the 
other's  work.  This  is  never  so  in  a  popular  assembly,  where  the 
kicker  will  always  be  found.  Much  as  we  dislike  cranks  and 
men  who  ride  hobbies,  their  persistency  and  fighting  qualities 
have   time   and  time   again    been    of   the   utmost    service   to   the 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  131 

cause  of  liberty,  and  it  will  be  a  sorry  day  when  their  services 
are  dispensed  with  in  governmental  matters. 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  people  will  be  the  safety  valve  to 
prevent  abuses  in  government  by  commission.  They  of  course 
are  in  a  representative  assembly,  but.  when  you  abolish  that, 
and  expect  the  people  directly  to  correct  ordinary  abuses,  it  will 
be  found  that  they  will  not  and  can  not.  They  must  have  ma- 
chinery to  carry  out  their  will,  for  the  average  citizen  knows  no 
more  about  the  financial  detail  and  intricate  ramifications  of  the 
forty  departments  of  Boston  than  he  does  about  the  administra- 
tive features  and  detail  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hart- 
ford R.   R.   Co. 

If  there  is  one  thing  that  experience  has  demonstrated  it  is 
that  the  masses  can  not  handle  financial  matters  directly  in  a 
satisfactory  manner  on  a  large  scale.  The  theory  of  representative 
government  has  solved  this  weakness  more  than  any  one  thing. 

President  EHot  has  likened  government  by  commission  to  the 
New  England  town  meeting.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  no 
resemblance  other  than  the  fact  that  a  small  number  of  men 
are  chosen  by  the  people  to  do  executive  work.  A  town  meet- 
ing is  one  of  the  purest  democracies  known.  Every  appropria- 
tion and  every  dollar  borrowed  is  authorized  in  the  presence  of 
every  citizen,  who  has  a  right  to  favor  it  or  to  object  to  it.  Both 
sides  of  a  question  are  discussed  in  the  presence  of  all  the  men 
who  are  paying  the  bills.  A  single  man  sometimes  arises  and  tips 
over  a  well  laid  scheme.  Under  government  by  commission  no 
ordinary  man  could  defeat  a  measure  advocated  by  a  commission 
of  seven,  and  yet  he  might  be  entirely  right.  The  people  govern 
the  town;  the  commission  the  city.  If  it  be  repHed  that 
under  commission  government  appropriation  bills  should  go  be- 
fore the  people  for  approval,  then  the  answer  is,  how  are  the 
people  going  to  vote?  For  an  entire  appropriation  bill  of  thirty 
or  forty  items,  even  though  they  strenuously  oppose  two  or  three 
particular  ones;  or  are  the  people  going  to  be  called  upon  to 
vote  for  each  one  of  a  large  number  of  items?  If  the  latter,  the 
ridiculousness  of  it  needs  no  comment. 

It  is  the  fashion  nowadays  to  distrust  the  people,  especially 
on  the  part  of  our  business  men  and  well-to-do  citizens.     As  a 


132  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

matter  of  fact,  ignorance  in  municipal  matters  in  Boston  is 
decidedly  prevalent  among  our  so-called  better  classes  who  have 
taken  less  interest  in  pubHc  affairs  than  similar  men  in  almost 
any  large  city.  If  the  fifty  leading  business  men  of  Boston  really 
meant  to  redeem  her  at  any  time  they  could  do  it.  It  is  all 
nonsense  to  say  otherwise.  Bad  government  exists  by  their 
tolerance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  selfishness  and  a  desire  for  politi- 
cal aggrandizement  is  not  confined  to  the  masses,  whose  pocket- 
books  are  seldom  benefited  by  land  deals,  street  construction,  and 
wholesale  improvements.  So  it  is  with  contracts.  If  there  is  a 
nigger-in-the-wood-pile  you  will  generally  find  him  on  Summer  or 
State  Street,  and  not  in  the  tenement  house  district.  The  holier- 
than-thou  doctrine  is  impressive  until  the  mask  is  removed. 

The  running  of  a  great  city  is  something  more  than  a  busi- 
ness proposition.  The  city  is  not  a  voluntary  corporation.  "It 
is  a  compulsory  corporation  into  which  "men  are  born."  You 
must  contribute  to  its  support,  whether  you  want  to  or  not.  You 
do  not  have  to  invest  your  money  in  a  private  corporation.  In 
business,  every  stockholder  has  one  thing  in  view :  dividends. 
This  is  not  so  in  a  city  where  one  locaHty  wants  one  thing  and 
another  one  something  different.  True  it  is  that  economy  should 
be  practiced  and  extravagance  minimized,  but  dollars  and  cents 
should  never  be  put  before  the  man.  The  city  is  a  poHtical 
unit.  It  is  not  a  business  unit.  In  business  the  chief  function  is 
buying  and  selling.  You  trade  and  bargain  ;  this  is  all  foreign 
to  the  fundamental  idea  of  a  city.  A  city  raises  money  chiefly 
by  taxation,  and  its  principal  duty  is  to  spend  that  money  in  a 
way  that  will  promote  the  health,  well-being  and  happiness  of 
the  community.  In  supplying  its  citizens  with  water,  purity, 
cleanliness  and  plenty  are  essential,  no  matter  what  the  cost  may 
be,  for  the  advantage  to  the  community  is  far  above  any  mere 
money  loss  sustained  by  reason  thereof. 

Children  must  be  educated,  even  though  a  burden  is  placed 
upon  property  properly  to  school  the  poor  man's  child.  The 
efficiency  of  intelligent  citizenship  as  an  economic  factor  and  the 
advantage  of  a  well-read  electorate  is  beyond  argument.  So, 
too,  our  property  must  be  protected  by  the  police  and  firemen  ; 
our    streets    well    kept ;    our    sewerage    disposed    of ;    in    spite 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  133 

of  expense.  The  essentials  must  be  had  no  matter  what  the 
cost.  In  a  business  corporation  the  stockholders  are  not  con- 
fined by  residence  to  the  city  or  state  where  their  company  may 
be  located.  A  stockholder  in  a  Boston  corporation  may  live  in 
San  Francisco.  A  voter  always  resides  where  he  votes.  One 
stockholder  may  have  one  hundred  thousand  votes  to  cast  for 
directors  and  another  one  but  ten,  whereas  every  voter  has  but 
one  vote,  and  the  man  worth  $10,000,000  has  no  more  votes  than 
the  man  worth  ten  cents. 

Directors  work  for  their  own  pocket-books.  Government 
officials  work  for  the  public  good.  No  matter  how  capable  they 
may  be  they  receive  no  financial  reward  other  than  a  regulation 
salary,  unless  they  be  dishonest. 

Business  corporations  can  speculate  with  their  funds  and 
take  almost  any  kind  of  a  risk.  Cities,  by  the  very  nature  of 
their  being,  cannot  do  this.  A  business  concern  must  keep 
abreast  of  competition,  or  fall.  •  Cities  have  no  competitors. 
Business  selects  its  best  men  to  run  its  enterprises.  Cities  un- 
der any  system  must  select  office  holders  with  some  regard 
to  locality,  nationality,  religion,  labor  and  business.  This 
means  a  compromise.  A  compromise  seldom  results  in  getting 
the  best  possible  men. 

In  a  business  corporation  the  executive  head  has  no  conscien- 
tious scruples  about  discharging  ftien  at  will.  Mere  caprice  or 
dislike  is  often  the  reason  for  excellent  men  losing  a  position. 
A  man  over,  fifty  years  of  age,  whatever  his  capabilities,  is  oft- 
en "oslerized."  A  business  man  can  pay  his  help  starvation 
wages  and  drive  them  at  their  work.  A  city  always  pays  a 
living  wage  to  its  humblest  employees;  the  working  day  is 
eight  hours,  and  there  is  no  slave  driving.  This  costs  more 
money.  It  is  not  "good  business"  but  it  is  what  any  public 
with  red  blood  in  its  veins  demands.  When  hard  times  come, 
the  private  employee  often  loses  his  job  ;  the  city  employee  seldom 
does.  When  men  and  women  get  old,  penniless,  and  w^ithout 
friends ;  when  the  poor  are  sick  or  starving ,  the  city  is  the 
guardian  angel  that  protects  them  all.  The  cost  may  be  large, 
but  it  must  be  done. 

It  will  be  readily  seen,  therefore,  that  the  government  of  a 


134  COMMISSION    PLAN    OV 

city  is  much  more  difficult  to  run  from  the  standpoint  of  effi- 
ciency, than  that  of  a  business  concern ;  above  all,  when  we  re- 
flect that  many  large  private  enterprises  are  absolutely  domi- 
nated by  one  executive  head,  without  any  of  the  checks  and 
balances  seen  in  governments. 

Of  course  any  city  government  is  bound  to  be  inefficient 
that  does  not  select  for  the  heads  of  its  great  administrative 
departments,  men  with  technical  and  executive  ability,  who  are 
kept  in  their  positions  for  a  long  period  of  time.  The  fact  that 
this  is  not  done  in  many  of  our  large  American  cities 
is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  their  inferior  governments. 

Government  by  Commission.     Walter  A.  Webster. 

At  the  present  time  a  theory  of  government  by  commission 
seems  to  be  the  fad.  The  reasons  urged  for  its  adoption  are 
practically  the  same  as  those  used  in  1885  in  favor  of  an  auto- 
cratic mayor.  We  have  tried  the  one-man  dictator  business  long 
enough.  Do  not  let  us  substitute  seven  dictators  for  one,  for 
if  the  board  of  aldermen  and  common  council  are  abolished  and 
all  power  is  vested  in  a  commission  of  seven,  it  is  doubtful  if 
it  will  work  any  better  than  our  present  system. 

Government  by  commission  is  a  theory.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  it  will  work  well  in  practice.  The  fact  that  Gal- 
veston, Houston,  and  other  Texas  cities  have  tried  it  and  that 
Des  Moines  is  going  to  try  it,  is  no  argument  for  Boston  to 
try  it.  The  conditions  are  absolutely  different.  Galveston  and 
Houston  have  a  population  but  little  in  excess  of  the  largest 
Boston  wards,  while  wards  20  and  21  combined  have  as  many 
people  as  Des  Moines.  Galveston  has  tried  the  plan  only  since 
1901  and  Houston  since  1905,  while  the  first  election  in  Des 
Moines  does  not  take  place  until  March  this  year.  How  can 
we  tell  whether  these  experiments  are  successful  or  not  un- 
til they  have  been  thoroughly  tested  ? 

When  Galveston  started  this  plan  her  city  had  been  almost 
destroyed  by  flood.  In  a  time  of  great  calamity  her  men  were 
chosen,  when  catastrophe  had  aroused  the  citizens  into  an  activity 
that  peaceful  events  never  bring  about.  Of  course  a  fine  type 
of  men  were  chosen.     They  would  have  been  chosen  in  Boston 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  135 

or  any  other  place  under  similar  conditions,  and  the  public  of 
course  was  ripe  for  reform.  We  can  tell  better  about  Galves- 
ton fifteen  or  twenty  years  from  now,  for  every  reform  move- 
ment starts  off  with  faith  and  hope.  At  first  you  get  good  men 
and  things  move  along  smoothly ;  then  the  novelty  wears  off. 
The  work  becomes  onerous,  the  great  man  is  succeeded  by  one 
not  quite  so  great,  and  he,  in  turn,  is  succeeded  by  one  a  little 
lower  in  the  scale,  and  so  on. 

In  proof  of  this  let  me  cite  the  London  County  Council, 
which  organized  with  eclat  with  Lord  Rosebery  as  chairman,  and 
Sir  John  Lubbock  as  vice  chairman,  and  some  of  the  greatest 
men  in  England  as  members.  This  was  in  1889.  Albert  Shaw 
thought  the  millenium  had  dawned  and  that  metropolitan  prob- 
lems were  solved.  Things  have  changed  since  then,  not  but 
what  the  Council  is  a  reasonably  good  body,  but  it  has  changed 
decidedly  from  what  it  was.  In  fact,  it  had  to  be  reformed 
in  1907.  Increasing  burdens  meant  increased  work,  and  great 
men  of  affairs,  one  by  one,  have  slowly  retired.  This  is  the  ex- 
perience everywhere. 

If  we  lived  in  Galveston,  many  of  us  probably  would  have 
voted  for  government  by  commission,  because  you  can  get  good 
men  in  active  business  to  serve  in  small  communities  for  they 
have  to  devote  only  a  portion  of  their  time  to  municipal  work. 
In  Boston,  the  commissioners  would  be  compelled  to  devote  all 
of  their  time.  Hence,  you  would  not  get  many  business  men 
to  serve,  but  men  who  would  be  commissioners  and  nothing 
else. 

In  making  comparisons  with  Galveston,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  there  is  great  difference  in  supervising  the  spending 
of  $34,000,000  each  year  in  a  city  with  a  population  of  over  a  mil- 
lion, and  the  spending  of  $700,000  in  a  small  place  like  Galves- 
ton, with  forty  thousand  people.  We  had  a  good  government 
in  Boston  ourselves  when  we  were  small.  It  is  since  we  grew 
up  that  our  troubles  came. 

If  we  are  to  have  government  by  commission,  why  should 
it  be  limited  to  Boston,  alone?  SomervillQ,  Brookline  and  New- 
ton are  as  much  a  part  of  the  real  Boston  as  Jamaica  Plain  or 
Dorchester.     The  chief   argument  against   annexing  them   now 


136  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

is  that  their  governments  are  better  than  the  government  in  Bos- 
ton. This  is  a  serious  question  and  one  that  must  be  faced.  It 
is  doubtful,  however,  if  our  suburban  cities  would  or  should 
agree  to  it. 

If  Boston  is  to  be  run  by  an  elective  commission  of  seven 
what  guarantee  have  we  that  the  seven  will  average  any  better 
than  the  thirteen  aldermen  sometimes  elected?  By  what  miracle 
will  the  electorate  ehminate  the  unfit?  When  public  opinion  has 
been  concentrated  upon  the  choice  of  one  man  for  mayor  can  it 
honestly  be  said  that  the  heaviest  timber  in  Boston  is  drafted? 
Under  our  one-man  despotic  rule,  in  which  the  mayor  is  all- 
powerful  over  many  departments,  can  we  say  that  our  mayors 
have  lived  up  to  the  full  requirements  of  their  great  positions? 

One  of  the  chief  arguments  in  favor  of  a  commission  is  that 
it  is  necessarily  a  small  body,  like  five,  seven,  or  nine.  Is  this 
necessarily  a  good  argument?  The  finest  municipal  government 
in  Christendom  is  probably  Berlin,  with  a  council  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  men.  Breslau  has  one  hundred  and  Dresden  sev- 
enty. No  one  has  ever  questioned  the  efficiency  of  German  city 
government,  based,  as  it  is,  upon  a  council  with  a  numerous  mem- 
bership. In  Prussia  only  tax  payers  vote  in  city  affairs,  and  the 
large  tax  payers  have  a  greater  voice  than  the  smaller  ones.  Yet 
they  choose  a  large  council. 

We  can  certainly  afford  to  pattern  after  municipal  govern- 
ment in  Great  Britain.  No  English  speaking  city  is  ahead  of 
Glasgow  in  civic  righteousness  and  administrative  ability,  and  yet 
she  has  a  council  of  seventy-seven.  So,  too,  Manchester  has  a 
council  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four,  Liverpool  a  council 
of  one  hundred,  together  with  thirty-four  aldermen,  making  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four,  Birmingham  has  sixty,  and  the  London 
County  Council  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  members. 

Most  of  these  places  are  admirably  governed ;  not  theoretically, 
but  in  practice.  This  being  so,  why  should  we  abandon  the 
ideas  that  have  been  worked  out  in  the  only  two  countries  where 
first-class  municipal  governments  exist  and  adopt  a  new  theory 
that  has  never  been  put  into  practice  in  any  great  modern  city? 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  governments  of  Boston  and  New  York 
are   combinations   of   a   one-man  despotism   on  the   part   of   the 


IMUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  137 

mayor  and  a  hodge-podge  commission  rule  by  bodies  that  are 
not  elected  by  the  people.  The  people  positively  do  not  govern 
the  city  of  Boston.  The  council  has  been  stripped  of  its  power 
in  almost  everything. 

Why  not  try  a  democatic  form  of  government  in  Boston  for 
a  while,  modelled  on  the  English  system ;  a  plan  that  will  get 
close  to  the  people,  that  will  vest  our  council  with  real  power, 
and  be  free  from  legislative  interference,  but  one  that  at  the 
same  time  vests  executive  responsibility  in  a  few  experts,  then,  if 
party  politics  in  municipal  affairs  were  abolished  and  our  council- 
ors elected  for  a  term  of  at  least  three  years,  I  believe  that  we 
would  get  good  government,  for  I  sincerely  think  that  the  vast 
majority  of  men  in  Boston  desire  a  decent  government.  At 
present  our  system  is  run  under  the  theory  that  the  people  can 
rot  to  be  trusted.  I  l^elieve  that  this  is  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  municipal  misrule. 

Cedar  Rapids   Evening  Times.  December  8,   1908. 

Failure  of  Commission  Plan.     Clinton  L.  White. 

Hon.  Clinton  L.  White  of  Sacramento,  Calif.,  speaking  of 
the  commission  form  of  government  which  was  abandoned  there 
in  1893,  after  fifteen  years  of  trial  writes: 

The  first  commissioner  was  ex-officio  mayor  of  the  city,  the 
second  commissioner  was  ex-officio  superintendent  of  the  streets, 
and  the  third  was  ex-officio  superintendent  of  city  water  works. 
While  any  two  of  them  could  over-rule  the  third,  even  in  his 
own  department,  in  almost  every  instance  the  board  soon  came 
to  the  understanding  that  each  man  was  to  be  let  alone  in  the 
management  of  the  department  consigned  to  him.  This  resulted 
in  there  being  in  fact  no  tribunal  supervisory  power  over  the 
executive  of  a  particular  department.  The  management  of  the 
street  department,  the  small  amount  of  work  accomplished  with 
funds  provided  for  the  purpose  and  the  niunber  of  employes 
doing  only  a  nominal  amount  of  work,  but  drawing  full  pay 
from  the  city  were  at  times  something  simply  scandalous.  The 
management  of  the  water  works  system  was  frequently  almost  as 
bad,  and  these  tbings  were  not  checked  by  a  disinterested  tri- 
bunal. 


138  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

In  1903,  the  people  being  convinced  that  we  could  improve 
upon  this  system  of  government,  elected  fifteen  free-holders  to 
frame  a  charter.  When  the  free-holders  met  they  were  of  the 
unanimous  opinion  that  we  should  separate  the  legislative  from 
the  executive  department.  Accordingly,  we  framed  the  present 
charter  and  under  it  we  certainly  have  had  a  municipal  govern- 
ment very  much  superior  to  our  old  commissioners'  system. 

Many  objections  may  be  urged  against  the  commission  form 
of  city  government  because  of  the  trades  which  are  made  be- 
tween the  members  of  the  commission — "You  support  my  meas- 
ure and  I  will  support  yours" — "You  scratch  my  back  and  I  will 
scratch  yours" — "You  appoint  my  friend  as  a  member  of  the  po- 
lice force  and  I  will  vote  for  yours  as  a  member  of  the  fire  de- 
partment." 

Cedar  Rapids  Republican.  October  22,  1907. 
Commission  Plan.     J.  R.  Palda. 

To  the  Bohemian  Independent  Political  Club  of  Cedar  Rap- 
ids, Iowa: 

If  at  first  I  did  not  favor  the  plan,  I  am  now  decidedly  op- 
posed to  it.  At  the  beginning  I  was  against  the  plan  more  from 
a  theoretical  standpoint,  I  could  discern  a  deleterious  assault 
upon  our  system  of  popular  municipal  government  and  a  serious 
injury  to  all  representative  institutions  that  begin  with  the  wards 
in  the  cities  and  with  the  townships  in  the  counties. 

I  do  not  entertain  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  friends  of  this 
plan  are  sincere  in  their  belief  that  the  establishment  of  the  com- 
mission plan  would  be  for  the  public  good  and  that  they  de- 
sire only  the  betterment  of  the  people's  welfare,  and  it  would  not 
be  just  to  attribute  to  them  other  than  honest  motives.  But  they 
view  the  matter  from  a  different,  and  to  my  mind,  a  false  stand- 
point. Every  person,  even  the  friends  of  the  plan,  must  concede 
that  in  the  abolition  of  the  ward  system  and  in  the  reduction  of 
the  number  of  representatives  in  the  city  council  by  more  than 
one-half,  from  ten  to  four,  not  counting  the  mayor,  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  people  will  be  greatly  reduced  and  the  spirit  of 
American  democracy  in  the  administration  of  the  city  will  be 
seriously  curtailed.     And   this   all   the   more   so  because  to   this 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  139 

much  reduced  representation,  to  these  few  heads  and  hands, 
would  be  confined  a  mighty  power  over  the  city.  They  are  to 
employ  all  officers  and  employes  of  the  city;  they  are  to  rule 
over  everything  that  the  city  now  possesses  or  in  future  may 
possess ;  they  are  to  control  the  order,  morals  and  progress  of  the 
city.  Everything  will  depend  upon  the  four  commissioners  and 
the  mayor.  Only  a  sober  thought  is  necessary  to  perceive  and 
comprehend  the  enormous  power  that  would  rest  in  their  hands ! 
Against  this  power  of  a  few  people,  of  the  magnitude  of 
which  the  friends  of  the  plan  must  surely  be  cognizant,  as  a 
protection  to  the  people  are  set  up  the  initiative,  the  referendum 
and  the  recall.  They  are  good  provisions,  in  fact  the  best  the  plan 
contains,  but  they  will  in  no  sense  counterbalance  the  powers 
granted  to  the  commission.  It  is  a  difficult  defense  against  the 
possible  misconduct  and  inefficiency  of  the  commission,  as  it  re- 
quires in  the  greater  number  of  cases  a  petition  signed  by  25  per 
cent  of  the  voters.  Who  will  undertake  the  work,  and  who  will 
pay  the  expenses  of  securing  such  a  petition?  That  is  worthy 
of  consideration.  Will  it  not  occur  to  all  that  the  people  will 
tolerate  many,  many  abuses  from  the  honorable  commission  be- 
fore .they  will  reach  out  for  their  means  of  defense?  That  they 
will  remain  supinely  silent  for  a  long,  long  time  before  making 
use  of  the  initiative,  before  they  would  avail  themselves  of  the 
designated  means  of  protest  or  before  they  would  petition  that 
the  mayor  or  a  certain  commissioner  be  deposed  and  a  new  one 
elected  in  his  stead?  The  last,  especially,  is  no  easy  task,  because 
everyone  has  his  friends,  and  there  are  many  dependent,  impotent 
and  business  people  who,  even  if  they  concurred  in  the  merit 
of  a  petition  of  that  character,  would,  through  timidity,  fear  of 
possible  injury  to  their  business  and  unwillingness  to  go  on 
record,  refuse  to  sign  the  petition.  They  will  not  "burn  their 
fingers"  on  account  of  one  commissioner.  A  much  greater  se- 
curity is  enjoyed  by  the  people  in  a  larger  representation  and 
less  power  in  a  council  elected  from  the  different  wards.  I  be- 
lieve in  the  work  and  management  of  a  larger  number.  I  believe 
in  a  proper  representation  of  the  people  in  every  department  of 
life,  and  also  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  city, 
which   is   not   a   business  but   a   composite   duty   of    society.     A 


140  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

great  diversity  of  matters  are  presented  that  require  much 
thought  and  study  for  their  correct  solution  in  the  interests  of 
the  whole  people.  The  curtailment  of  representation  is  a  meas- 
ure fraught  with  dangers,  and  followed  to  its  ultimate  logical 
conclusion,  must  lead  us  to  autocracy.  Besides,  the  initiative,  the 
referendum,  and  the  recall,  which  are  the  most  salient  features  of 
the  new  plan,  can  very  easily  be  incorporated  into  the  present 
system,  and  it  is  not  necessary  in  order  to  secure  the  benefits 
of  those  provisions  to  force  upon  the  people  the  attendant  dan- 
gers and  burdens  of  the  commission  plan. 

So,  also,  it  is  possible  to  secure  to  the  people  under  the  pres- 
ent system  whatever  of  benefit  might  flow  out  of  the  com- 
mission plan,  such  as  the  provisions  against  pre-election  bar- 
gains, the  civil  service,  voting  of  franchises  by  the  people, 
monthly  statements  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  annual  audit- 
ing of  books,  etc.,  without  incurring  the  dangers  of  restricted 
representation  and  lodging  dangerous  powers  in  the  commission. 

Viewed  from  the  practical  standpoint,  the  commission  plan 
will  not  secure  us  a  better  or  more  economical  government. 
There  is  nothing  on  which  to  base  the  assurance  that  better 
men  will  be  elected  into  the  commission.  Political  parties,  which 
will  be  eliminated,  will  not  work  directly  for  control  of  the  city, 
but  it  is  possible  to  secure  the  same  end  indirectly.  Besides, 
the  city  will  not  be  without  parties,  and  how  they  will  crystaHze, 
onl)'  the  future  can  show.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  place  of 
political  parties  will  be  taken  by  parties  of  office-seekers,  sure- 
ly more  dangerous,  and  destructive  than  political  parties.  A 
contest  solely  for  spoils  may  be  waged  besides  an  exalted  desire 
and  commendable  effort  for  public  welfare.  Both  are  possible. 
An  honest  election  contest  of  public-spirited  citizens  and  also 
a  contest  of  greed  and  selfishness. 

The  commissioners  will  appoint  all  officers  and  employes, 
directly  and  indirectly.  What  large  number  of  persons  in  the 
city's  employ  dependent  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  particular 
commissioners !  Will  it  not  occur  to  everyone  that  all  these 
people,  their  relatives  and  friends  will  naturally  interest  them- 
selves in  their  re-election?  What  effect  will  it  have?  What  pos- 
sibilities!    Bureaucracy  is  possible  even  in  a  republic  when  the 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  141 

seeds  of  autocracy  are  permitted  to  take  root !  Its  prevent- 
ive lies  only  in  pure  and  unrestricted  popular  government. 

It  is  just  as  possible  that  incompetent  and  unreliable  men 
may  succeed  in  being  elected  into  the  commission  as  v^ere  ever 
elected  into  a  city  council.  If  the  people  are  indifferent  at  the 
primaries  and  election,  as  has  often  been  the  case  at  the 
caucus  and  election,  the  result  will  be  the  same.  In  that  case 
how  much  worse  off  will  the  citizens  be  than  now,  in  view  of  the 
unrestricted  powers  of  the  commission?  The  very  thought  is 
revolting.  Even  if  they  should  be  more  competent  and  more 
efficient,  will  a  better  administration  of  the  city's  affairs  be  the 
result  as  is  promised?  Can  one  person  serve  several  masters? 
Can  he  with  success  manage  such  institutions  as  the  water 
works,  the  parks  and  other  property  of  the  city  as  this  law  re- 
quires? Each  commissioner  will  have  his  department  and  the 
other  commissioners  will  only,  in  a  sense,  put  their  stamp  of 
approval  upon  his  transactions ;  whatever  he  does  or  recommends 
will  be  weighed  and  considered  as  the  best  judgment  of  a 
specialist — a  person  who  gives  special  attention  to  that  depart- 
ment, and  in  most  cases  his  recommendations  will  be  received 
without  protest,  question  or  hesitation,  as  each  commissioner  will 
be  preoccupied  with  his  own  department  and  will  not  take  time 
to  investigate  into  the  merits  of  the  recommendations.  What 
does  that  mean?  A  one-man  government.  Can  that  be  better 
than  the  present?  Let  every  one  answer  that  for  himself.  Even 
the  most  competent  will  stumble  over  the  block  of  impossibility, 
though  they  devoted  all  their  time  to  the  public.  But  they  will  not, 
and  cannot,  devote  all  their  time  to  the  city,  as  was  well  said 
and  explained  by  City  Attorney  Good,  who  is  understood  to 
favor  the  plan,  in  his  Central  Park  speech  last  week.  No  one 
can  expect  or  require  that  the  commissioners  will  give  up  their 
business  or  occupation  for  the  uncertainty  of  a  two  years'  term 
of  office.  They  will  devote  as  much  time  to  the  city  as  they  will 
have  to  spare,  but  even  if  they  devoted  all  their  time,  it  will  not 
be  sufficient,  as  I  have  said,  to  meet  the  requirements  of  their 
offices.  They  will  have  to  depend  upon  their  assistants  and 
the  meaning  of  that  everyone  may  eatsily  guess. 

The   administration   of  the   city   tinder   the  commission   will 


142  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

not  be  more  economical.  Their  own  salaries  will  amount  to  a 
considerable  sum  and  the  employes  and  assistants  will  all  com- 
mand a  substantial  salary  as  their  own  contention  is  that  cheap 
help  is  worthless.  Whether  or  not  they  will  save  anything  for 
the  city  is  a  debatable  question.  If  improvements  are  made,  it 
will  cost  money,  as  no  one  will  contribute  his  labor  gratis  even 
for  the  commissioners.  The  money,  as  now,  will  have  to  be  fur- 
nished by  the  taxpayers.  Even  if  out  of  the  commissioners' 
wisdom  some  saving  to  the  city  would  flow,  how  dearly  bought 
at  the  expense  of  subverted  popular  government,  which  the 
sagacity  of  our  ancestors  so  wisely  provided.  Let  us  not  under- 
mine the  foundations  of  American  democracy  in  a  momentary 
outburst  of  reform  derogatory  to  the  spirit  of  American  in- 
stitutions, especially  when  no  lasting  benefits  are  guaranteed, 
though  many  be  promised.  Much  improvement  is  necessary,  it  is 
true,  but  this  is  necessary  in  the  people  themselves  as  well 
as  in  the  administration  of  the  community's  affairs.  We  seek 
them  with  all  our  might,  but  our  hopes  lie  only  in  the  popular 
institutions  as  founded  by  our  forefathers,  guaranteeing  equal 
rights  and  justice  to  all.  Let  us  not  thoughtlessly  strike  at  the 
foundation  of  our  hopes  and  aspirations.  The  ward  system  is 
based  upon  a  correct  foundation,  and  needs  only  development 
to  meet  the  demands  of  modern  requirements.  Let  us  add 
lO  it  whatever  of  salutary  features  the  commission  plan  con- 
tains, and  we  will  then  attain  in  fact  all  that  the  new  law  only 
promises.  Reform  must  begin  with  ourselves,  with  the  individ- 
ual, and  when  we  scrupulously  and  conscientiously  devote  our- 
selves to  the  affairs  of  our  community,  electing  good  aldermen  and 
refraining  from  adding  to  their  burdens  by  empty  and  malicious 
criticism,  esteemed  and  honest  people  will  find  it  a  pleasure  to 
seek  office  and  serve  the  public.  Only  in  this,  and  this  alone,  lies 
our  salvation, — not  in  a  new  plan,  a  plan  pregnant  with  dan- 
gers. Do  not  take  from  the  people  their  old  rights ;  rather  in- 
crease and  add  new  ones  to  them ;  but  first  of  all,  let  us  learn 
to  understand  and  to  discharge  our  sacred  obligations  to  society. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  143 

City  Hall  (Des  Moines).  10:  258-61.  January,  1909. 

Municipal  Government  by  Commission. 

Mr.  Grosser:  There  are  many  points  of  view,  of  course, 
from  w^hich  a  thing  of  this  kind  may  be  looked  upon.  Mr. 
Huston  seems  to  be  especially  proud  of  the  primary  election. 
Let  me  inform  Mr.  Huston  that  Chicago  has  a  primary  election 
law,  and  that  while  conditions  in  some  wards  under  this  primary 
law  may  produce  a  Hinky  Dink  or  a  Bath  House  John,  let  me  say 
to  you  they  are  not  the  most  corrupt  men  in  their  wards,  and  un- 
der the  conditions  Chicago,  I  believe,  produced  the  best  aldermen 
that  you  can  find  in  this  country.  You  may  look  upon  the  history 
of  Chicago  during  the  past  twelve  years  and  no  one  can  point  a 
finger  upon  a  single  scandal  in  our  city  council.  There  is  a 
great  difference  where  you  have  that  law,  and  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  Cedar  Rapids  and  a  city  into  which  Cedar 
Rapids  could  be  put  one  hundred  times.  The  commission  plan 
of  government  has  been  tried  heretofore,  and  while  it  is  in  a  cer- 
tain way  a  good  idea,  I  for  one  am  ready  and  willing  to  say  it 
does  not  amount  to  very  much.  The  commission  plan  is  un- 
American,  and  I  want  to  tell  you  why  I  consider  it  so.  Under 
the  commission  plan  there  is  placed  into  the  hands  of  five  men 
executive  power,  legislative  power  and  a  certain  judicial  power, 
and  I  claim  that  any  form  of  government  that  places  the  three 
cardinal  powers  into  the  hands  of  one  set  of  men  is  un-American. 
I  think  that  the  legislative  power  should  be  strictly  separated  from 
the  executive  power.  The  commissioners  pass  the  necessary 
legislation,  they  execute  the  laws,  and,  if  I -am  not  very  much 
mistaken,  they  appoint  the  police  judge,  and  thereby  have  a  finger 
on  the  judiciary  department.  From  that  point  of  view  I  believe 
the  commission  plan  is  un-American.  I  rather  like  the  federal 
plan,  elect  one  executive  officer  and  let  him  be  held  responsible 
to  the  people. 

Mr,  Gemunder,  Columbus:  When  this  subject  was  announced 
I  came  here  particularly  to  hear  it,  and  I  am  only  sorry  that  there 
was  only  one  of  the  papers  read.  The  initiative  and  referendum, 
the  civil  service  and  the  direct  primary  law  are  not  peculiar  to 
the  commission  plan,     I  think  the  discussion  of  these  points  is 


144  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

hardly  germane  to  the  main  point,  which  is  the  difference  be- 
tween the  commission  and  the  ordinary  form  of  government 
ss  followed  by  the  various  cities.  From  the  information  I  can  get 
the  commission  plan  as  Cedar  Rapids  has  it  amounts  simply  to 
four  councilmen  elected  at  large  and  a  mayor  elected  at  large,  and 
each  councilman  becomes  a  committee  of  one  to  look  after  his 
department.  Now,  of  course,  as  to  whether  this  is  good  or  bad 
will  depend.  You  can  say  a  great  deal  in  favor  of  a  czar  pro- 
vided he  has  great  strength  of  character.  It  is  so  when  you 
place  more  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  a  few  people.  I  say 
the  system  has  not  been  tried  sufficiently  to  warrant  any  definite 
conclusion  as  to  its  merits.  If  you  will  look  up  the  history  of 
commissions  you  will  find  that  the  first  commission  is  a  good 
one.  In  1876  the  state  of  Ohio  appointed  a  Gas  Commission. 
As  is  customary,  the  first  appointments  were  good  ones,  but 
it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  it  turned  right  back  into 
the  machine,  and  in  ten  years  it  was  abolished  as  a  failure.  Fur- 
thermore, the  cities  of  Galveston,  Des  Moines  and  Cedar  Rapids 
are  cities  very  small  compared  with  some  others,  and  what  is 
known  as  the  professional  political  machine  does  not  show  itself 
with  any  great  strength  in  cities  of  that  size,  but  if  you  take 
the  cities  of  Chicago,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  other  large 
cities,  there  is  a  powerful  machine  always  at  work,  and  how 
long  do  you  suppose  it  will  take  that  machine  to  get  control 
of  your  commission?  If  this  commission  is  composed  of  men 
of  high  character  the  commission  will  undoubtedly  do  good 
work.  The  dift"erence  between  the  ordinary  private  corporation 
and  the  municipal  corporation  is  that  in  private  corporations 
the  stockholders  and  directors  are  spending  their  own  more)'. 
The  question  is  whether  if  you  center  all  your  power  in  the 
hands  of  five  men  are  the  checks  sufficient.  I  sa3%  gentlemen, 
that  the  trial  has  not  gone  far  enough,  and  it  will  pay  us  to 
keep  our  eyes  on  this  experiment.  I  think  it  will  prove  a  failure. 
Mr.  Oliver,  Toronto :  In  the  country  I  come  from  any  man 
can  run  for  any  office  without  having  to  ask  for  permission  from 
any  one.  We  are  free  to  step  out  and  appeal  to  the  people 
on  our  records.  We  have  not  got  to  go  to  a  primary.  So  far 
as  the    Board  of   Control  in  the  citv  of  Toronto  is  concerned, 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  145 

I  may  say  that  it  was  established  in  1897.  We  go  to  the  people 
every  year;  we  have  to  come  up  for  re-election  every  year.  By 
this  means  I  think  we  have  perhaps  one  of  the  best  forms  of 
government.  We  do  not  change  our  civic  officials.  Our  police- 
men are  handled  by  the  Police  Commission ;  they  appoint  all 
the  policemen.  The  police  are  appointed  during  good  behavior. 
As  long  as  a  civil  servant  in  Toronto  fills  the  position  and  does 
the  work  that  he  is  put  there  to  do  he  is  not  changed.  We 
think  a  continuity  of  service  is  the  best  service  in  any  country  or 
in  any  city.  We  have  a  city  treasurer  who  has  been  in  the  employ 
of  the  city  for  more  than  thirty-four  years.  Our  engineer  has 
been  there  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  and  we  have  any  number 
of  employees  who  have  been  in  the  city  service  from  twenty 
to  thirty-seven  years  without  any  change.  We  are  trying  to 
adopt  at  the  present  time  a  new  system  of  paying  employees. 
We  have  always  heretofore  advanced  men  as  the  Council  felt 
Ihey  were  entitled  to  receive  a  little  larger  salary.  We  felt  we 
should  put  the  emoluments  on  the  position  and  not  on  the  man. 
We  felt  that  after  a  man  has  been  in  class  A  or  class  B  for  a 
certain  time,  then  we  should  raise  them  up  a  class  and  by  that 
means  are  able  to  give  an  increase  in  salary. 

Iowa  Unionist  (Des  Moines).  April  12,  1907. 

Organized  Labor  Opposes  Commission  Plan. 

We  recommend  to  the  attention  of  laboring  men  who  have 
been  led  to  believe  that  the  movement  for  a  business  administra- 
tion of  the  city  means  the  elimination  of  the  wage  earner  as  a  fac- 
tor, the  following  report  of  the  action  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of 
Fort  Worth,  Texas,  immediately  following  the  adoption  of  the 
new  charter  last  week. 

The  Fort  Worth  Record  says : — 

According  to  a  decision  reached  at  a  special  meeting  of  the 
directors  held  at  10  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  the  Board  of  Trade 
will  take  the  initiative  in  selecting  men  for  commissioners  under 
the  new  charter. 

The  matter  was  exhaustively  discussed  by  all  the  directors, 
and  it  was  decided  that  as  the  election  of  men  to  be  had  at  the 
helm  of  the  city  government  involves  the  interests  of  the  city, 
and  that  it  is  non-political  in  nature,  there  being  no  organization 
to  take  the  matter  in  hand,  there  could  be  no  impropriety  In  the 
board  taking  action  in  the  premises. 

It    was    then    decided    that    each    of   the    civic   organizations    in 


146  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 


the  city  and  the  Federation  of  Labor  be  invited  to  send  five 
of  their  number  to  another  conference  to  be  held  in  the  board  of 
trade  rooms  next  Saturday  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 
proposition  will  receive  such  action  as  deemed  expedient. 

It  was  especially  stated  that  this  is  not  an  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  board  to  delegate  to  itself  the  selection  of  this  ticket.  Every 
organization  in  the  city  is  invited  to  send  representatives  to  this 
meeting  under  instructions  or  with  power  to  act  for  their  or- 
ganization as  each  may  determine. 

Officers  of  several  of  the  leagues  have  already  issued  calls 
and  the  executive  committee  of  the  Federation  of  Labor  is  expected 
to  take  action  today. 

This  movement  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trade  has  received 
practically  the  unanimous  approval  of  all  whose  opinion  has  been 
expressed  on  the  subject. 

The  wage  earners  of  Des  Moines  are  just  as  much  interested 
in  economical  government  as  anybody,  perhaps  more  than  any- 
body, and  they  are  and  always  will  be  in  a  naajority.  So  long  as 
the  majority  rules,  and  so  long  as  every  ordinance  is  subject 
to  popular  approval,  on  the  presentation  of  a  moderate  petition 
which  labor  can  rally  on  short  notice,  how  can  labor  be  deprived 
of  any  of  its  rights  of  citizenship,  even  if  the  attempt  should  be 
made? 

In  Fort  Worth  the  representatives  of  labor  are  invited  to  assist 
in  naming  a  ticket  for  the  first  commission,  or  board  of  directors, 
that  will  represent  every  element  in  the  city.  This  shows  that 
the  commission  form  of  government  is  not  promoted  by  elements 
hostile  to  labor.  We  hope  every  laboring  man  in  Des  Moines 
will  give  a  careful  reading  to  Mr.  Earle's  exposition  of  the  new 
form  of  government  and  prepare  to  assist  in  securing  a  commis- 
sion when  the  time  comes,  made  up  of  the  very  best  and  most 
representative  men  of  all  classes  in  Des  Moines. — Register  and 
Leader. 

Organized  labor  was  given  a  voice  in  constructing  the  pro- 
visions of  the  charter,  which  was  adopted  at  Fort  Worth.  The 
provisions  are  entirely  different  from  those  proposed  in  the  Des 
Moines  bill,  or  that  are  in  vogue  in  Galveston.  The  Fort  Worth 
people,  all  working  in  harmony,  eliminated  objectionable  fea- 
tures in  drafting  a  new  charter  provision. 

In  Des  Moines,  a  committee  of  less  than  65  drafted  the  bill, 
and  organized  labor  was  snubbed  entirely.  The  result  is,  a  bill 
was  railroaded  through  the  legislature  that  is  objectionable  in 
many  instances  to  the  wage  workers. 

It  is  no  argument  for  the  Des  Moines  plan  to  say  that  wage 
earners  are  in  the  majority,  and  can  elect  their  own  members 
to  office.  Organized  labor  is  not  anxious  to  elect  its  ov^n  mem- 
bers to  office  clothed  with  dictatorial  power  that  the  Des  Moines 
plan  proposes.  The  Des  Moines  plan  proposes  nothing  less  than 
a  monarchial  form  of  government,  because  all  but  five  officers 
are  appointive. 

In  Fort  Worth  the  laboring  people  were  given  decent  con- 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  i47 


sideration.  They  participated  in  drafting  a  measure  to  be  voted 
on.  Here  is  a  partial  report  from  the  Union  Banner  of  P"ort 
Worth,   representing   organized   labor : 

By  a  vote  of  2,178  for  and  405  against,  Tuesday  of  this  week, 
Fort  Worth  adopted  its  new  charter,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Texas — and,  so  lar  as  we  know,  in  the  United 
States — a  city  is  to  be  governed  by  a  cliarter  in  the  framing  of 
which    citizens    in    every    walli    of   life    participated. 

Yes,  organized  labor  as  organized  labor,  assisted  in  the  fram- 
ing of  the  new  charter  and  organized  labor  as  organized  labor 
voted  for   the  new   charter. 

Then  under  this  charter,  the  city  can,  when  it  sees  fit,  engage 
in  conducting  any  of  its  public  utilities,  and  all  franchises  granted 
hereafter  will  have  to  pay  to  the  city  three  per  cent  of  its  gross 
earnings. 

The  board  of  school  trustees  will  hereafter  be  elected  by  the 
people   at   a  special   election    held  for   that  purpose   alone. 

Organized  labor  has  never  asked  for  anything  of  a  selfish  na- 
ture and  we  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see  it  do  so.  It  has  always 
asked  for  those  things  which  would  benefit  union  and  non-union 
men  alike.  Naturally,  we  will  expect  to  see  the  eight-hour  day  in- 
augurated in  those  departments  where  such  conditions  ought  to 
prevail — the  water  works  and  electric  departments  and  street  work. 
The  eight-hour  day  for  the  man  who  toils  is  the  logical  work  day. 

We  expect  to  see  skilled  men  in  all  of  those  departments 
which    call    for  skiPed   men — men    of   the    highest    skill. 

None  of  the  above  good  features  are  contained  in  the  Des 

Moines  bill,   for  the  reason  that  the  professional  politicians  and 

disgruntled  office  seekers  and  unionwreckers  who  drafted  the  bill 

ignored  organized  labor  and  other  classes,  drafted  a  bill  to  their 

own  liking  and  railroaded  it  through  the  legislature,  but  they  will 

never   force  it  on  the  people  of  Des   Moines,  notwithstanding 

misrepresentation  by  the  three  subsidized  dailies. 

Midwestern   (Des  Moines).  3:35-6.  June,  1909. 
Des  Moines  Plan.     W.  W.  Wise. 

A  few  weeks  ago  the  Des  Moines  police  matron,  under  civil 
service,  was  discharged  by  the  superintendent  of  public  safety. 
The  position  had  been  held  by  her  for  thirteen  years  ;  in  fact, 
she  had  grown  old  in  the  service.  Her  standing  in  the  com- 
munity was  attested  by  the  fact  that  at  least  125  of  the  promi- 
nent club  women  of  the  city  appeared  before  the  city  council 
upon  her  appeal.  So  indignant  were  they  over  the  matter  that 
they  openly  and  loudly  protested  against  what  they  claimed  was 
an  awful  injustice.  My  opponent,  Mr.  MacVicar,  and  the  super- 
intendent of  public  accounts,  voted  for  her  retention ;  but  the 
superintendent    of    public    safety,    who   had    discharged   her,    in- 


148  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

sisted  upon  the  discharge  being  made  permanent.  Under  this 
wonderful  new  commission  plan  law  appeals  must  be  made  to 
the  council,  and  if  the  charges  of  Mr.  Mac  Vicar  are  true,  that  a 
combination  existed  in  the  council,  of  which  the  superintendent 
of  public  safety  was  the  controlHng  spirit,  the  latter  won  his 
point  through  that  combination.  The  lady  appealed  to  the  district 
court  and  was  sustained,  the  court  stating  that  the  charges  were 
entirely  too  flimsy  for  serious  consideration. 

A  few  days  ago  the  superintendent  of  pubHc  safety  was 
criticized  by  the  press  for  selling  some  old  junk  that  had  accumu- 
lated around  the  police  department  and  not  turning  the  proceeds 
in  to  the  treasurer  immediately  upon  receipt  thereof.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  the  city  solicitor  for  an  opinion,  who  said  that 
there  was  some  question  as  to  the  ownership  of  the  junk,,  or 
words  to  that  effect,  but  advised  the  superintendent  of  public 
safety  to  turn  the  money  in  immediately.  A  prominent  attorney, 
commenting  upon  the  occurrence,  said  that  no  more  ridiculous 
thing  could  have  occurred  than  for  a  superior  officer  to  call  upon 
a  subordinate,  whom  he  helped  to  appoint,  for  an  opinion  of 
vindication. 

There  has  been  constant  wrangling  between  the  superintend- 
ent of  public  safety  and  the  police  judge,  with  threats  of  re- 
moving the  judge.  The  department  of  public  safety  naturally 
becomes  the  prosecuting  witness,  as  the  police  department  makes 
all  arrests  and  is  naturally  very  desirous  of  conviction.  Think, 
then,  what  a  travesty  on  common  sense  for  the  superintendent 
of  this  department  to  have  in  his  charge  the  police  judge,  thereby 
making  the  court  subordinate  to  the  prosecuting  witness ! 

If  three  political  tricksters  should  be  elected  as  councilmen 
and  control  all  of  the  appointments  above  enumerated,  they  would 
undoubtedly  make  the  horde  of  poor  bums  and  drunks  who  are 
constantly  at  the  mercy  of  the  police  court  pay  political  tribute 
and  become  part  and  parcel  of  the  machine  in  power.  The  pat- 
ronage of  a  municipality  has  caused  more  trouble  and  made  it 
more  difficult  to  elect  good  men  to  office  than  almost  all  the  other 
elements  combined.  In  the  past  more  thought  has  been  given 
to  this  subject,  in  an  endeavor  to  eliminate  this  feature  from 
politics  by  state  legislation,  than  along  any  other  single  line  touch- 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  149 

ing  upon  municipal  affairs.  Comes  now  the  Des  Moines  or 
commission  plan  and  annuls  all  of  the  beneficial  legislation  along 
these  lines ! 

The  volume  of  business  for  each  year  was  almost  identical, 
and  the  results  were  fully  as  good  in  1907  under  the  old  form 
of  government  as  in  1908  under  the  Des  Moines  plan.  When 
one  takes  into  consideration  the  disheartening  conditions  under 
which  the  business  was  conducted  in  1907,  the  results  were  phe- 
nomenal ;  first,  the  fight  on  the  adoption  of  the  plan ;  second, 
the  grooming  of  candidates  for  office;  third,  the  active  cam- 
paign for  nomination;  fourth,  the  fight  for  election.  There  was 
not  a  day  during  the  entire  year  of  1907  but  what  the  atmosphere 
was  surcharged  with  the  muck  from  poHtical  mud-slinging. 
Moreover,  the  official  pay-roll  of  1908  as  compared  with  that 
of  1907,  as  they  appear  in  the  appropriation  ordinance  of  the 
two  years,  shows  that  of  1908  to  be  some  $9,000  the  greater. 
This  is  exclusive  of  the  poHce  and  fire  departments.  If  the 
theory  of  the  Des  Moines  plan  is  correct,  the  increased  pay- 
roll should  produce  greater  efficiency,  but  the  above  comparison 
shows  that  such  is  not  the  case.  The  Des  Moines  plan  cannot 
be  called  a  success  unless  the  results  attained  under  it  are  bet- 
ter than  those  under  the  old  plan. 

Therefore  we  are  brought  back  to  the  proposition  that  there 
can  be  good  government  under  a  bad  system,  or  bad  government 
uncjer  a  good  system.  The  results  will  depend  entirely  upon  the 
men,  as  good  men  will  produce  good  results  under  the  worst 
system,  and  bad  men  will  produce  bad  results  under  the  best 
system.  The  question  then  resolves  itself  into  this:  What  sys- 
tem will  be  most  likely  to  make  it  possible  to  elect  good  men  ? 
The  results  above  shown  must  be  conclusive  evidence  to  the 
mind  of  any  fair-minded  person  that  the  commission  plan  of 
government  is  not  calculated  to  bring  about  these  results.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  furnishes  all  of  the  opportunity  desired  by 
the  ward  politician  to  obtain  office  and  remain  in  office,  and 
build  up  a  gigantic  and  irresistible  political  machine,  which  the 
united  efforts  of  the  best  element  in  a  city  would  be  unable  to 
overcome.  The  results  in  the  city  of  Des  Moines  during  the 
first  year  under  the   Des  Moines  plan  give  ample  proof  of   the 


150  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

truthfulness  of  this  statement,  when  the  entire  press  of  the 
city,  the  united  efforts  of  the  two  commercial  clubs  and  the 
Greater  Des  Moines  Committee,  have  been  unable  to  keep  down 
bickering,  strife  and  political  machinations. 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  January  9,  1907. 

City  Council  Needed  No  Less  than  a  Mayor. 

City  government  consists  of  two  things:  First,  legislation 
or  ordinance-making  subject  to  general  statutes;  and,  second, 
execution  or  administration  of  the  people's  wishes  and  will 
as  expressed  in  the  ordinances.  The  advocates  of  the  Galves- 
ton plan  contend  that  cities  are  creatures  of  law  and  hence 
ordinances  are  merely  executive  regulations  under  general 
statutes. 

If  we  examine  the  provisions  of  the  code  of  Iowa  we  find 
that  most  of  the  provisions  affecting  city  affairs  are  permissive 
or  optional.  We  may  levy  a  bridge  tax  or  not,  as  the  citizens 
decide.  We  are  not  ordered  to  do  so.  The  code  simply  puts 
a  top  limit  to  the  amount  of  the  levy.  The  same  is  true  with 
taxes  for  water  and  lighting,  sewers,  streets  and  city  expenses 
generally.  We  need  not  have  libraries  or  parks  or  bridges  or 
sewers  or  asphalt  or  a  hundred  and  more  things  common  in 
city  government,  if  we  so  conclude.  The  code  simply  permits 
citizens  to  exercise  all  of  the  vast  powers  of  taxation  without 
let  or  hindrance  within  certain  bounds. 

The  two  functions  of  legislation  and  execution  require  dif- 
ferent types  of  mind.  Men  may  be  good  law  makers  and  coun- 
cilmen  yet  know  little  or  nothing  about  the  technical  require- 
ments demanded  of  a  civil  engineer  or  chief  of  police.  The 
directory  boards  of  our  banks  and  insurance  companies  or  great 
business  corporations  are  made  up  usually  of  excellent  direc- 
tors,— of  prudent  councillors  and  successful  men  in  certain  lines 
— their  advice  and  experience  are  valuable ;  they  are  cool-headed 
and  impartial  judges  and  will  render  sound  judgments  when  two 
different  policies  are  urged  upon  them — but  in  few  cases  would 
they  be  good  cashiers  or  field  officers  or  competent  to  under- 
take  any   of   the   numerous   executive    or   technical   positions  in 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  151 

the  business  of  the  companies  which  they  legislate  for  and 
supervise  as  directors. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  work  after  passing  ordinances 
that  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  our  discussion  of  the  pro- 
posal to  abolish  our  councilmanic  system  is  the  legislative  func- 
tion of  supervising  the  conduct  of  the  executive  departments. 
The  council  will  constitute  a  jury  or  committee  of  inspection 
precisely  as  the  board  of  directors  do.  They  can  and  will  cross- 
examine  administrative  officers,  investigate  the  results  of  vari- 
ous methods  pursued  or  advocated,  consider  relative  merits  of 
conflicting  departments  or  business  ventures  and  compare  costs 
and  eliminate  expensive  profitless  offices.  Being  exempt  from  the 
immediate  interests  and  prejudices  of  executive  officers,  each 
of  whom  is  anxious  to  exalt  and  magnify  his  own  department 
or  office,  the  councilmen  will  act  both  as  a  court  of  high  resort 
and  as  a  jury. 

The  benefits  and  safety  of  a  council  are  the  supreme  safe- 
guards of  a  city  democracy  precisely  as  a  board  of  directors 
are  guardians  of  the  interests  of  depositors  and  stock  holders 
of  banks.  A  city  cannot  get  along  with  one-man  power  more 
safely  than  banks  or  corporations  can  afford  to  dispense  with 
their  directory  boards.  We  can't  get  perfection  with  human 
nature  and  human  interests  what  they  are  and  are  likely  to  be. 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).     January  16,  1907. 

Some  Facts  and  Figures,     W.  N.  Jordan. 

To  the  Members  of  the  Polk  County  Republican  Club: 

Gentlemen  : — 

We,  your  committee,  who  were  appointed  to  look 
into  the  form  of  government  for  Galveston,  IndianapoHs,  and 
Des  Moines,  have  the  honor  to  report  as  follows : 

Des  Moines  has  lowered  her  city  tax  levy  from  41.5  mills  in 
1900  to  39.7  mills  in  1906.  Indianapolis  has  increased  her  tax  levy 
from  60  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  in  1899  to  88  cents 
in  1906. 

In  Indianapolis,  the  library  tax  is  not  included  in  the  city 
tax.  nor  is  the  library  or  park  tax  included  on  the  Des  Moines 
rate  on  the  one  hundred.     In  Des  Moines,  the  city  builds   and 


152  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

•sustains  the  library.  In  Indianapolis,  the  library  is  cared  for 
entirely,  and  is  a  part  of  the  school  system.  Galveston  is  free 
from  the  library  tax  for  building  and  maintenance.  She  has  an 
endowment  of  $400,000.00  left  her  by  a  patriotic  citizen,  thus 
saving  $16,000.00  over  Des  Moines  per  year. 

The  fact  that  Indianapolis  covers  so  much  less  territory 
than  Des  Moines  should  appeal  to  any  business  man  that  the 
expenses  of  government  are  much  less  in  a  solidly  compact  area. 

The  great  mistake  that  Des  Moines  made  was  in  paying 
for  her  improvements  as  she  went  along,  instead  of  following 
the  system  of  bonding  the  town  for  permanent  improvements, 
as  is  followed  in  Indianapolis  and  Galveston. 

Des  Moines,  cursed  with  its  enormous  territory,  like  a  mill- 
stone around  her  neck,  will  always  be  a  more  expensive  plant  for 
government  purposes  than  Indianapolis,  whatever  system  you 
have,  Des  Moines,  Indianapolis,  Galveston,  Houston,  or  Min- 
neapolis. 

Des  Moines  has  no  contingent  liability  in  its  paving  special 
assessment  tax,  whereas  Indianapolis  has  a  contingent  liability 
on  about  $2,000,000.00. 

Neither  Galveston  nor  Indianapolis  derives  any  appreciable 
revenue  from  its  franchises,  any  more  than  does  Des  Moines, 
but  the  spirit  of  Indianapolis  is  rather  to  demand  perfect  serv- 
ice from  the  gas  company,  the  water  company,  the  street  car 
company,  telephone  and  electric  companies,  and  a  reduction  in 
price  to  the  people  rather  than  a  revenue-bearing  investment  for 
the  city  as  a  whole.  None  of  the  said  indebtedness  was  in- 
curred in  the  building  of  the  great  sea  wall,  that  being  built 
from  county  funds.  Of  the  income  of  Galveston,  she  spends 
$83,000.00  for  grade  raising,  while  Des  Moines  spends  annually 
a  grading  fund  amounting  to  $45,000.00. 

Of  the  street  cleaning  fund,  Indianapolis  pays  $65,000.00  by 
contract  for  sprinkling  unimproved  streets :  Des  Moines  spends 
none. 

Indianapolis  pays  $52,000.00  a  year  for  removal  of  garbage, 
which  garbage  includes  only  organic  matter. 

The  Galveston  police  department  cost  $42,900.00,  Des  Moines 
$87,150.00,    Indianapolis    $257,509.50,    last   year,    1905.     Galveston 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  153 

had  five  murders  and  forty-five  attempted  murders;  Des  Moines 
records  show  one  murder;  two  deaths  with  suspicion  of  murder, 
and  fourteen  attempted  murders  for  the  same  year.  Indian- 
apohs,  in  the  fall  of  1906,  had  two  policemen  killed  and  the 
murderers  are  unapprehended.  One  thousand  prisoners  pass 
through  the  police  court  monthly,  and  the  newspapers  eternally 
roast  the  poHce  department. 

Galveston  fire  department  cost  for  maintenance  $52,830.00 
in  1906;  Des  Moines,  in  1906,  $113,500.00;  Indianapolis,  $275,981.- 

75- 

Galveston  park  system  cost  $2,000.00  during  the  year  and 
Des  Moines  $60,000.00  for  purchase  and  maintenance,  and 
Indianapolis,  $118,700.00,  of  which  $30,000.00  was  contributed 
from  other  sources. 

Galveston  has  no  bridges  and  Marion  County  builds  them  all 
in  Indianapolis,  while  Des  Moines  pays  $50,000.00  a  year  to 
construct  and  maintain  its  bridges. 

Galveston  has  eight  public  schools,  maintained  at  a  cost  of 
$78,000.00,  one  third  of  which  is  paid  by  the  state.  Of  the 
buildings,  the  two  largest  were  gifts  from  the  men  whose  names 
they   bear. 

Des  Moines  has  fifty-four  public  schools,  and  it  pays  annu- 
ally $477,000.00  for  their  support. 

Donations  from  philanthropists  have  built  Galveston  her 
two  largest  school  buildings,  sixteen  fountains,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
building,  public  library,  orphans'  home,  the  old  people's  home, 
and  hospital.  The  United  States  government  has  spent  more  than 
$6,000,000.00  in  making  improvements  in  the  city. 

IndianapoHs  invited  the  national  Saengerfest  to  meet  in  their 
city  next  year,  and  they  discovered  to  their  dismay  that  they 
had  no  building  large  enough  to  entertain  the  assembly.  The  city 
officers  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis  are  all  housed  in  the  basement 
of  the  Court  House.  It  is  true  that  they  have  a  building  nearly 
twice  as  large  as  the  City  Hall,  and  well  built,  known  as  the 
Tomlinson  House.  If  the  city  vacates  the  rooms  in  the  Court 
House,  they  could  easily  be  housed  in  this  hall.  Adjoining  this 
hall  is  a  plat  of  ground,  used  as  a  market  place,  (also  given 
to   the    city,    on    condition    that    a   market    place    be    maintained 


154  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

there).  The  mayor,  in  order  to  fulfill  his  agreement  in  enter- 
taining the  Saengerfest,  conceived  the  brilHant  idea  of  building 
a  coliseum,  (called  the  Coliseum,  City  Hall,  and  Market  Place). 
To  a  Hmited  extent  it  will  be  used  as  a  city  hall  and  market 
place.  So  he  called  his  city  council  together  and  appropriated 
$300,000.00  for  the  erection  of  this  coHseum,  in  which  to  en- 
tertain the  Saengerfest.  This  action  is  denounced  by  leading 
lawyers  as  illegal  and  high-handed. 

There  is  another  thing  which  aroused  the  fierce  indigna- 
tion of  the  citizens,  and  the  cry  of  graft  was  heard  from  street- 
corner  to  street-corner.  That  was  the  granting  of  a  fran- 
chise known  as  the  Merchants'  Heat  &  Light  Co.  without  a 
dollar  of  benefit  to  the  city.  It  was  voted  to  the  leaders  of 
the  faction  which  was  in  control  of  the  city  government. 

Some  years  ago,  the  Consumers'  Gas  Co.  laid  their  mains 
in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  and  under  a  contract  with  the  city, 
the  city  had  the  first  option  by  appraisement  of  the  purchase  of 
these  gas  mains.  On  the  13th  day  of  November,  the  city  of 
Indianapolis  appraised  the  mains  of  the  franchise  at  one  hun- 
dred dollars  and  disposed  of  the  same  to  the  Citizens'  Gas  Co. 

The  matter  is  now  in  court.  A  rival  gas  company  with  an 
authorized  capital  of  $1,000,000.00  of  which  they  have  $500,000.00 
subscribed  and  $30,000.00  in  cash  paid  in,  have  offered  to  fur- 
nish the  city  of  Indianapolis  with  artificial  gas  at  60  cents  per 
1,000  feet,  whereas  the  city  is  now  paying  90  cents.  The  pub- 
lic is  and  has  been  for  a  long  time,  demanding  to  know  why 
the  city  would  sell  a  franchise  including  valuable  mains  and 
connections  for  $100.00  furnishing  gas  at  90  cents  and  refuse  to 
grant  a  franchise  to  a  company,  both  willing  and  able  to  furnish 
gas  at  60  cents  to  the  common  people. 

Let  us  take  one  illustration :  Indianapolis  has  always  mani- 
fested toward  municipal  corporations  a  liberal  spirit  in  marked 
contrast  with  the  hell-hounding  spirit  manifested  by  some  of 
our  citizens  toward  the  civic  corporations. 

Indiana  has  a  law  by  which  the  Board  of  PubHc  Works 
may  open  a  street  through  private  property  and  off-set  the 
benefits  against  the  damages  to  the  abutting  property  owner. 
The  practical  result  of  this  law  is  that  it  seldom  costs  the  city 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  155 

a  very  appreciable  sum  of  money  to  open  a  street.  Such  a 
law  could  not  be  enacted  in  Iowa  without  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment. 

In  Indianapolis,  all  improvements  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
Board  of  Public  Works.  Like  all  other  officers  (excepting  the 
city  council,  and  city  clerk),  they  are  appointed  by  the  mayor, 
and  hold  office  during  his  pleasure.  The  Board  of  Public  Works 
decide  upon  what  street  shall  be  improved,  issue  orders  for 
the  curbing,  paving,  sewers  and  sidewalks,  and  they  decide  on 
the  kind  of  material  and  the  price  thereof. 

The  work  proceeds  without  the  consultation  of  the  citizens 
thereof  unless  the  abutting  property  owners  file  a  protest  with 
the  city  council.  The  city  council  is  composed  of  twenty-one 
men,  fifteen  of  whom  are  elected  from  the  fifteen  wards  of  the 
city,  respectively,  and  six  aldermen-at-large.  If  the  protest  is 
sustained  by  fifteen  votes  of  the  council,  the  work  ceases.  I 
asked  an  alderman  if  the  protests  of  the  property  owners  were 
ever  sustained,  and  he  answered  "No." 

In  Des  Moines,  a  majority  of  the  abutting  property  owners 
may  petition  for  any  improvement,  or  seven  members  of  the 
city  council  may  order  an  improvement  without  consultation 
with  the  abutting  property  owner.  But  they  never  do  it.  Why? 
Because  they  believe  the  people  who  pay  for  the  improvements 
should  be  consulted. 

The  city  government  of  Indianapolis  is  on  the  federal  plan. 
The  elective  officers  are  the  mayor,  city  clerk,  and  aldermen. 
The  mayor  appoints  the  three  members  of  the  Board  of  Pub- 
l'*c  Works,  and  at  a  salary  of  $2,000.00  each  per  annum;  three 
members  of  the  Board  of  Public  Safety ;  and  the  members 
of  the  Board  of  Public  Health,  the  controller,  the  engineer, 
and  all  other  officers  in  the  government  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest,  except  those  I  have  stated  are  elected.  This  plan 
has  been  in  force  seventeen  years. 

The  Galveston  system  is  one  of  commission,  composed  of 
five  commissioners,  who  transact  all  of  the  business  of  the  city, 
and  the  Galveston  system  proves  much  more  expensive  than 
that  of  Des  Moines. 

Of  the  Galveston  debt,  $1,030,000.00  was  bond  issue  for  the 


15^  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

purpose  of  raising  the  grade  of  the  city,  and  the  state  of  Texas 
remitted  all  county  and  state  taxes  collected  in  Galveston  for 
a  period  of  seventeen  years  to  pay  this  debt. 

When  a  franchise  is  asked  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  it 
must  have  the  approval  of  the  mayor,  w^ho  sends  it  to  the  Board 
of  Public  Works  (his  appointees).  It  lies  on  the  desk  of  the 
Board  of  Public  Works  for  two  weeks,  and  must  have  their 
approval.  Then  it  is  sent  to  the  city  council  wherein  it  lies  two 
weeks  and  must  be  passed  by  a  two-thirds  vote.  There  is  no 
referendum.     (No  vote  by  th€  people.) 

The  city  council  has  but  Httle  to  do  except  the  passing  of 
the  annual  budget  once  a  year,  passing  some  ordinances  and  vot- 
ing on  franchises.  The  mayor  and  the  members  of  the  city 
council  rapidly  come  to  an  agreement  and  understanding. 

The  city  of  Indianapolis  is  not  any  freer  from  the  charge 
of  graft  and  corruption  in  office  than  is  Des  Moines.  Whether 
there  is  any  foundation  in  fact  for  such  charges,  I  cannot,  of 
course,  say. 

Take  the  Chicago,  IndianapoHs,  &  Evansville  franchise,  which 
was  put  through  the  council  early  in  1906.  The  franchise  gave 
them  the  right  to  pass  through  important  business  and  resi- 
dential portions  of  the  city,  and  a  further  privilege  of  building 
a  freight  depot  in  the  square,  immediately  across  the  street 
from  the  State  House  (a  beautiful  place  for  a  freight  yard). 
The  public  at  large  cannot  find  out  who  is  back  of  the  enter- 
prise. Whether  the  company  is  a  corporation  on  a  substantial 
basis,  or  not,  is  unknown.  This  was  so  bitterly  fought  and 
denounced,  that  the  criminal  judge  directed  the  Grand  Jury 
at  the  two  last  terms  to  probe  the  matter  to  the  bottom. 

Another  matter  that  was  put  through  the  city  council  by  the 
mayor  was  the  modification  of  the  Indiana  Southern,  franchise 
or  contract,  which  permitted  them  to  change  from  elevated 
tracks  down  to  the  grade  level  at  Merrill  street  and  run  into 
the  Union  Depot.  This  modification  took  place  in  the  face  of 
the  state  law,  which  now  requires  the  elevation  of  the  street 
railways,  with  damages  to  the  abutting  property  owners,  of 
which  damages  the  city  shall  pay  ssVs  P^r  cent. 

There  was   another  thing   which  aroused   the   enraged    feel- 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  157 

ings  of  the  citizens  of  Indianapolis.  The  legislature  was  con- 
templating a  bill  compelling  the  elevation  of  the  street  rail- 
way tracks.  The  bill  was  introduced  with  every  prospect  of 
its  passage,  when  the  mayor  called  together  his  city  council, 
and  quietly  put  the  bill  through  the  city  council,  by  which  the 
city  was  to  pay  331/3  per  cent.  Then  the  railroad  lawyers 
went  directly  to  the  legislature,  called  attention  to  this  contract, 
and  demanded  that  a  law  be  passed  so  as  to  compel  the  city 
to  live  up  to  that  agreement,  which  the  legislature  did. 

The  Galveston  plan,  as  I  view  it,  is  one  of  commission.  It 
is  a  perpetual  body.  (It  is  a  potentially  perfect  political  ma- 
chine.) 

There  has  been  no  change  in  the  membership  of  the  Gal- 
veston commission  since  it  was  organized  in  1000  (except  on 
the  death  of  a  member). 

The  extensive  powers  of  the  commissioners  have  enabled 
them  to  control  all  political  factions  and  completely  to  crush 
the  opposition.  The  commissioners'  faction  is  in  complete  con- 
trol and  its  leaders  dictate  nominations  of  commissioners,  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  and  congressmen. 

The  farmers  of  Galveston  county  call  the  Galveston  com- 
missioners and  grade  raising  board  "a  gang  of  thieves." 

The  Galveston  commissioners  and  city  officials  are  not  easily 
accessible  to  the  citizens  of  the  city,  and  give  but  a  small  portion 
of  their  time  to  the  city's  business. 

None  of  the  commissioners  (except  the  mayor)  has  an  office 
in  the  City  Hall. 

All  of  them  have  other  extensive  business  interests  and 
citizens  seeking  redress  or  assistance  must  run  the  gauntlet  of 
the  outside  office  and  closed  door  of  the  private  business  office. 

The  city  auditor  has  no  office  in  the  City  Hall. 

The  city  treasurer  has  no  office  in  the  City  Hall. 

The  city  attorney  has  no  office  in  the  City  Hall. 

The  incumbents  of  these  offices  accepted  them  only  on  the 
condition  that  they  might  continue  also  in  their  other  business 
and  offices. 

In  Houston,  which  also  has  a  commission  form  of  government 
where  the  commissioners  are  required  to  stay  in  the  City  Hall 


158  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

every  day,  business  men  do  not  hold  these  positions  although 
the  salaries  are  higher  than  the  proposed  salaries  of  the  Des 
Moines  commissioners.  One  commissioner  was  formerly  a 
scavenger,  another  a  blacksmith,  justice  of  the  peace  and  alder- 
man, a  third  a  railv^ay  auditor,  a  fourth,  a  drygoods  merchant, 
and  the  mayor  a  retired  capitalist. 

The  Galveston  commissioners  favor  the  corporation.  The 
only  franchise  given  to  a  corporation  by  the  commission  is  the 
franchise  obtained  by  the  Galveston  Street  Railway  Co.,  in 
May  1906.  It  was  not  referred  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  (This 
franchise  was  given  for  a  period  of  fifty  years.)  The  city 
received  no  compensation  for  this  franchise  and  collected  no 
f'-anchise  taxes  on  it.  The  city  receives  no  percentage  of  the 
gross  or  net  receipts.  The  company  charges  a  straight  five 
cent  fare  and  transfers  are  issued  only  from  May  to  October. 
The  company  paves  the  space  between  the  rails  and  one  foot 
on  each  side.  There  are  thirty-eight  miles  of  tracks  and  the 
property  is  assessed  at  $243,150.00  or  $6,398.00  per  mile. 

Des  Moines  has  76.95  miles  and  is  assessed  at  $792,000.00,  or 
$10,355.00  per  mile  (and  only  about  62  miles  straight). 

Comparative  Statement 

Des  Moines  Indianapolis  Galveston 

Square   miles    54  28.8  6.r. 

Population    (estimated)     75,000  200,000  30,000 

Valuation     67,862,960  158,087,000  48,000,000 

Rate    of    tax    for    municipal 

purpose 7914  on  $100  .88  on  $100 

Tax  for   all   purposes $2.00  on  $100  $2.14  on  $100  $2.13  on  $100 

Number     liglits     2,100  1,683  222 

Farlc    acreage     650  1,320  16.7 

Number    of    firemen 97  250  53 

Number    of    policemen 62  253  38 

Number  of  luiles  paving 110  203  18 

Number   of  miles  of   streets..  460  About  300  73 

Bonded    debt     $678,000  2,930,800  4,046,000 

Saloons     100  740  73 

City   expense    $641,116.00  $1,772,758  00  $577,210.00 

Tax    per    capita 8.66  0.33  21.00 

Total   revenue    641,116.00  1,865,027.00  633,270.00 

Debt  per  capita ^^.04  14.55  122.60 

Ccst    of    street    lighting 65,867.60  142,500.00  Municipal 

Cost   of  street   cleaning 23,000.00  169,000.00  23,000.00 

The  Galveston  municipal  government  is  not  free  from  "graft." 
The    prosecutor    of    city    cases    in    the    police    court    collects    a 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  159 

fee  of  $10  for  every  criminal,  drunk,  or  vagrant  convicted,  and 
$5  from  every  one  who  pleads  guilty. 

The  city  attorney  collects  $3,000.00  each  year  from  the  city 
as  a  fee  for  special  counsel  and  the  printing  of  abstracts  (in 
addition  to  his  salary  of  $1,200.00).  He  has  appointed  his  law 
partner  as  an  assistant  with  a  salary  of  $900.  They  are  al- 
lowed 5  per  cent  of  all  delinquent  taxes  collected,  as  an  addi- 
tional fee.    A  third  assistant  is  paid  a  salary  of  $600  per  year. 

Total  of  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  city  of  Des  Moines 
for  the  year  1906 : — 

To   pay  expense   of   Police   Dept.,    Fire   Dept.,    official   p?y 
roll,   street  cleaning,    supplies,   election,   fuel,   and  re- 
pairing of  all   public    buildings,   and   construction   and 

equipment   of  all   fire    houses .$301,086.00 

Water  rental    51,484.00 

Lighting   of    the    city 58,862.00 

Building  bridges  and  repairing 52,451.00 

Cleaning,    repairing  all    sewers   of   the   city,    and   building 

intercepting    sewers 31,457.00 

Grading   and   opening  streets   and   alleys 51,535.00 

For  payment   of   bonds    and   interest 43,111.00 

For  purchase  of  new  cemetery 4,681.00 

Care   of   cemeteries 4,681.00 

Improvement  fund  for  the  payment  of  all  public  improve- 
ments  where   property  will   not   stand   assessment....  35,246.00 

Total   for  municipal   purposes $651,227.00 

Judgment    fund 16,703.00 

While  we  are  giving  an  outline  of  the  regime  of  Gal- 
veston and  Indianapolis  we  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  within  five  years  Des  Moines  has  built  five  new  fire 
houses  and  a  city  library;  bought  parks,  built  bridges,  reduced^ 
the  bonded  indebtedness  over  $200,000.00  and  with  all  this  the 
tax  levy  is  less  than  it  was  five  years  ago.  Des  Moines  has 
done  several  things.  It  has  built  and  equipped  five  fire  houses, 
at  a  cost  of  $75,000.00,  new  bridges  at  the  cost  of  $160,000.00, 
paid  out  $30,000.00  on  account  of  the  flood,  and  $75,000.00  on 
account  of  smallpox,  and  has  built  four  miles  of  intercepting 
sewer.  It  has  paid  $100,000.00  of  a  floating  debt.  Des  Moines 
has  paid  over  $300,000.00  in  the  last  five  years  for  city  parks 
and  maintenance,  and  has  paid  $195,000.00  for  a  city  library.  We 
have  on  hand  bridges  and  fire  equipment  to  accommodate  a  city 
of  300,000  people.     Yet  Des  Moines  has  on  hand  $240,955.00  of 


i6o  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

which  almost  $30,000.00  is  available  to  be  used  in  the  reduction 
of  the  city's  indebtedness. 

We  are  convinced  that  neither  the  Galveston  plan  nor  the 
Indianapolis  plan  will  meet  the  wants  and  demands  of  the  city  of 
Des  Moines. 

Des  Moines  stands  almost  alone  for  low  expenses,  and  we 
are  one  of  the  few  cities  in  the  United  States  where  our  as- 
sessed valuation  is  less  than  that  employed  today  and  the  changes 
that  we  would  recommend  are  few,  and  are  as  follows : 

First,  the  Board  of  Pubhc  Works  and  the  Police  and  Fire 
Commission  should  be  appointed  by  the  mayor  without  confir- 
mation and  hold  office  subject  to  his  pleasure. 

Second,  we  would  recommend  that  the  City  Engineer  be 
made  a  member,  ex-officio,  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
W.  N.  Jordan. 
Chairman  Committee. 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  January  19,  1907. 
Municipal  Reforms  Needed. 

Professor  Herriott's  mode  of  attack  upon  the  Galveston  or 
commissioner  system  presented  various  considerations  that  meet 
with  general  approval.  He  contended,  first,  that  there  is  no  dis- 
agreement as  to  the  need  of  vigorous  reforms  in  our  city  govern- 
ment. He  said  there  was  no  serious  discussion  as  to  the  causes 
of  our  trouble,  nor  does  any  one  doubt  that  we  need  some  busi- 
ness principles  in  city  government.  He  disputed  vigorously,  how- 
ever that  the  matter  in  issue  was  simply  a  matter  of  business. 

A  city  is  not  as  easy  to  manage  as  a  grocery  store  or  a  bank. 
If  the  matter  that  bothers  were  simply  a  matter  of  business, 
we  ought  at  once  to  put  the  city  into  commission,  viz :  enter  in- 
to a  contract  with  some  superintendent  of  operations  of  a  rail- 
way, whereby  we  secure  a  ten-year  contract  under  which  such 
contractor  undertakes  to  manage  our  affairs  without  further 
bother.    We  could  make  money  by  so  doing. 

But  we  cannot  sublet  a  municipality.  It  is  an  agency  of  gov- 
ernment that  we  must  deal  with,  an  arm  of  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  government  that  exercises  the   power  of  life  and  death 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  i6i 

over  persons  and  property,— an  agency  that  can  dynamite  build- 
ings and  declare  martial  law  in  times  of  peril  in  order  to 
promote  or  protect  the  general  welfare. 

Professor  Herriott  then  attacked  the  Galveston  plan  upon 
several  different  counts.  First,  because  none  of  the  precedents 
offered  in  justification  of  the  radical  change  advocated,  viz., 
making  one  body  both  a  legislative  and  an  executive  organ — 
were  not  authoritative  or  binding.  Second,  because  the  commis- 
sioner system  was  hostile  to  business  efficiency  as  measured  by 
commercial  and  industrial  standards.  Third,  because  it  is  ob- 
noxious to  democracy,  and  republican  or  free  institutions ;  and 
Fourth,  it  was  expressly  in  conflict  with  the  constitution  of  Iowa, 
in  that  it  gave  legislative  duties  (ordinance  and  budget  making 
powers),  to  an  executive  board  and  executive  functions  to  a  law- 
making or  legislative  board. 

The  precedents  urged  on  behalf  of  the  commissioner  system, 
he  disposed  of  summarily,  but  we  believe  effectually.  Galves- 
ton's city  commission  was  the  child  of  disaster;  its  success  was 
the  result  of  a  terrible  calamity  that  compelled  the  citizens  to 
coerce  their  leading  citizens  into  taking  the  leading  offices.  The 
present  success  and  that  of  Dallas  and  Houston  are  due  to  the 
intoxication  resulting  from  the  furore  of  public  interest  in  the 
plan  signified  by  the  magazine  articles,  etc.  Dallas  had  ex- 
perienced a  frightful  mismanagement  and  gross  waste  of  funds, 
and  became  desperate,  and  in  desperation  adopted  the  Galveston 
model.  But,  death-bed  repentances  or  spasms  of  reform,  are 
seldom  permanently  efficacious. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  is  much  relied  upon  by  the  advocates  of 
the  commissioner  system,  but  Professor  Herriott  pointed  out 
that  not  only  did  the  people  of  our  national  capital  have  no  right 
of  self-government,  but  that  they  were  subject  to  military  con- 
trol in  effect,  as  a  United  States  army  officer  must  be  one  of  the 
commissioners.  There  is  no  more  self-government  at  Washing- 
ton than  in  St.  Petersburg.  But  here  in  Iowa,  we  beHeve  in 
self-government  and  insist  upon  it  as  essential. 

British  councils,  often  cited,  are  not  in  point,  because  they 
range  in  members  from  twelve  to  sixty-four  in  number.  They 
legislate  for  control  and  supervise  English  cities,  but  their  mem- 


i62  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

bers  do  not  undertake  to  manage  directly  the  executive  depart- 
ments. Furthermore,  we  do  not  have  the  leisure  class  in  America 
that  are  so  much  reHed  upon  in  England.  Finally,  we  are  not  a 
part  of  England,  and  English  customs  today  under  the  monarchial 
forms  and  pretences  are  not  entirely  agreeable  to  our  ways  of 
political  life  and  thought. 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  February  2,  1907. 

Dominant  Mayor  Essential  in  Good  City  Government. 

If  specialization  and  the  employment  of  experts  are  essential 
to  success  in  modern  business ;  and  if  accountability  and  respon- 
sibility are  imperative  in  city  government  as  well  as  m  business ; 
then  a  central  dominating  mind — a  mayor  with  coercive  powers 
of  co-ordination  and  control — is  a  fundamental  condition  of  an 
efficient  c'ty  administration.  Specialization  in  executive  work 
both  implies  and  demands  a  head  with  power  of  control  in  the 
carrying  out  of  the  law  and  the  accomplishment  of  the  wishes  of 
the  citizens  as  expressed  through  ordinances. 

Experts  and  specialists,  who  are  in  truth  trained  men, 
know  but  little  outside  their  own  departments  or  fields  of  work. 
Moreover,  they  care  little  for  anything  else  than  their  specialty. 
More  important  still,  they  exalt  and  magnify  the  importance  of 
their  particular  office  and  seek  always  (and  very  naturally,  too) 
to  extend  their  work  by  securing- more  funds  and  power  therefor. 
If  we  let  specialists  alone  and  follow  their  lead  each  and  all  will 
expand  and  spread  beyond  alt  bounds.  They  would  soon  bank- 
rupt the  treasuries  of  Croesus.  What  is  worse,  the  expansion 
of  departments  in  all  directions  means  immediate  clash,  confu- 
sion, one  with  another.  Offices  and  departments  will  overlap  and 
interlock.  This  produces  the  confusion  worse  confounded  that 
now  befogs  the  public  mind  and  enables  weak  or  corrupt  city 
officials  to  manipulate  government  for  private  gain. 

But  we  need  and  must  employ  expert  public  servants.  If  so. 
we  must  have  one  over  them  in  full  charge  who  will  compel 
them  to  work  in  harmony,  who  will  coerce  them  into  co-operation 
and  economy,  who  will  make  the  entire  civil  service  of  a  city 
work  to  the  one  common  objective,  namely,  efficient  government 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  163 

at  the  least  cost.  A  powerful  mayor  is  no  less  essential  in  con- 
trolling and  directing  the  various  organs  of  the  body. 

Now  the  function  of  the  mayor  or  central  directing  mind  can 
not,  for  reasons  set  forth  by  Professor  F.  1.  Herriott  of  Drake 
University  and  partially  outlined  by  us  last  week,  can  not  be 
divided  or  "parceled  out"  as  is  proposed  in  the  Galveston  system 
of  city  government.  A  city  administration  is  not  and  can  not  be 
accountable  if  five  men  are  in  charge  of  executive  work.  Our 
old  proverbs  "Too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth"  and  "What's 
everybody's  business  is  nobody's  business"  are  as  true  as  Holy 
Writ  in  city  government.  Accountability  implies  responsibility; 
and  responsibility  means  direct,  immediate  personal  liability  of  the 
person  or  official  charged  with  the  performance  of  a  duty  or  task. 
If  the  officer  or  servant  fails  to  satisfy — if  he  blunders  or  ignores, 
perverts  or  stumbles  in  his  work,  we  discharge  him.  But  if 
some  one  or  some  body  of  commissioners  are  always  expected  to 
interfere  and  take  over  his  responsibility,  then  we  can  not  hold 
him  accountable,  in  so  far  as  his  authority  and  power  to  exercise 
his  full  judgment  at  discretion  is  undermined. 

It  is  pure  ignorance  or  sentimentalism  when  advocates  of 
the  Galveston  commission  compare  it  to  the  board  of  directors  of 
banks  and  business  corporations.  The  commission  as  advocated, 
as  we  have  pointed  out,  not  only  legislates — passes  ordinances, 
authorizes  the  budget  and  supervises  the  conduct  and  reports  of 
department  chiefs,  but  it  is  also  charged  with  the  work  of 
"managing"  the  city's  affairs.  Herein,  Professor  Herriott  con- 
tends, lie  both  the  dangers  and  the  iniquities  of  the  proposed 
plan.  It  not  only  violates  good  business  organization,  but  it 
strikes  squarely  in  the  face  of  all  our  principles  and  traditions  of 
democracy  and  republican  or  representative  institutions. 

Boards  of  directors  do  not  manage  banks.  They  determine 
the  policy  and  supervise  the  president  and  cashier  and  their 
administration,  but  they  do  not  actually  or  formally  undertake 
the  particular  task  of  conducting  a  bank.  Moreover,  when  they 
do  intrude  into  the  domain  of  the  cashier  and  president  further 
than  giving  advice  upon  loans  and  auditing  annual  accounts  or 
quarterly  statements — they  are  almost  certain  to  make  a  muss 
and  a  mess  of  things  that  no  competent  cashier  or  president  will 


i64  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

tolerate.  Stockholders  and  directors  alike  look  to  the  cashier  to 
"make  things  go"  and  for  their  dividends.  It  is  Mr.  Carnegie 
and  Mr.  James  J.  Hill,  Mr.  Marshall  Field,  in  iron  mills,  rail- 
roads and  stores  that  make  profits  and  dividends.  It  is  Messrs. 
Cassidy  and  Pearsall,  McKinney  and  Miller  in  our  city  who  direct, 
control  and  manage  our  city  banks  successfully  and  make  divi- 
dends, and  not  their  directory  boards.  The  latter  are  necessary 
as  a  legislative  council,  but  they  should  not  undertake  managerial 
work. 

Precisely  the  same  sort  of  centralized  administration  that 
prevails  in  all  successful  business  corporations  must  be  repro- 
duced in  our  city  government.  Just  how  to  secure  the  mayor. 
Professor  Herriott  concedes,  is  a  debatable  question.  In  business 
corporations  presidents  and  cashiers  are  usually  elected  by  boards 
of  directors  and  there  is  no  serious  theoretical  objection  to  this 
mode  of  procedure  except  that  city  government  is  not  so  easily 
or  so  quickly  managed  as  a  private  corporation.  Our  practice  and 
tradition  is  almost  wholly  opposed  and  there  is  seldom  benefit 
in  running  counter  to  our  political  customs.  We  probably  will 
gain  more — the  people  will  feel  more  contented  with  the  system  if 
the  mayor  is  elected  at  a  general  election. 

But  the  mayor  and  the  executive  department  of  city  govern- 
ment represent  merely  one-half  of  the  municipal  problems  before 
us  at  this  time  and  the  serious  fallacy  in  recent  discussion  has 
been  the  utter  failure  of  the  advocates  of  the  Galveston  system 
to  realize  that  a  council  that  will  exercise  the  legislative  func- 
tion is  city  government.  There  is  no  mayor  and  there  is  no 
commission  of  three  or  five  men  that  is  safe  enough  or  sane 
enough  or  broad  enough  to  legislate  for  the  people  of  Des  Moines 
and  then  to  have  the  privilege  and  the  power  to  carry  out  their 
own  ideas  subject  to  all  the  pressure  of  personal  prejudice  and  pe- 
cuniary temptation.  To  give  such  enormous  power  to  one  body  is 
obnoxious  to  all  that  is  distinctly  American  in  principle  and  in 
practice. 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT  165 

Plain  Talk  (Des  Moines).  February  16,  1907. 

Commission  System  and  Non-Partizan  Government. 

In  his  address  before  the  Prairie  Club  last  January,  in  which 
he  contended  that  the  Galveston  commission  system  of  city 
government  was  essentially  bad  in  plan  and  would  work  viciously 
ni  practice,  Professor  F.  I.  Herriott  of  Drake  University  de- 
clared that  an  alderman  is  not  redeemed  and  sanctified  by  call- 
ing him  a  commissioner.  Further,  he  contended  that  we  do  not 
and  cannot  change  human  nature,  we  cannot  obliterate  greed  and 
abolish  passion  and  prejudice  by  giving  officers  more  power  and 
entrenching  their  powers.  Moreover,  he  asserted  that  the  matter 
in  issue  before  the  people  of  Des  Moines  is  not  a  choice  between 
government  and  bad  government.  We  all  concede  that  our  pres- 
ent system  is  sadly  deficient,  that  its  evils  are  manifest  and  ad- 
mitted by  all  intelligent  citizens,  and  there  is  a  general  and 
vigorous  demand  from  all  parties  that  rigorous  reforms  be  in- 
stituted. The  real  question  is  the  method  by  which  we  shall 
undertake  to  right  matters.  It  is  simply  whether  we  shall  jump 
from  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire.  Neither  place  is  comfortable, 
but  the  fire  is  certainly  not  desirable  or  preferable.  Let  us  see 
if  we  can  attain  the  ideal  under  the  new  reform  we  are  so  loud- 
ly urged  to  adopt. 

The  advocates  of  the  commission  system  seem  to  think  that 
the  new  scheme  will  secure  us  "non-partizan"  city  government. 
It  may  be  conceded  that  now  and  then  we  may  act  upon  city  af- 
fairs and  elect  aldermen  solely  upon  business  considerations  ap- 
pertaining to  the  city's  welfare.  We  may  do  so  regardless  of  free 
silver  or  the  gold  standard,  regardless  of  Rooseveltism  or  im- 
perialism, regardless  of  standpatism  or  commissionism,  regard- 
less of  Cummins  and  anti-Cummins,  regardless  of  Hull  or  Prouty. 
Now  and  then  we  may  exclude  such  considerations  from  public 
debate  and  local  action  at  the  polls  on  the  city's  government 
and  budget.  But  are  we  likely  to  do  so?  Can  we  rationally  ex- 
pect citizens  to  do  so  with  conditions  as  they  are  and  must  be?. 

Our  manufacturer  merchants  are  keenly  interested  in  state 
and  national  policies,  in  the  tariff,  in  railroad  rates,  in  meat 
inspection.  The  attitude  of  our  legislators  in  state  and  national 
assemblies  is  a  matter  of  vital  concern  to  them.     They  are  the 


i66  COMMISSION    PLAN    OF 

same  men  whether  considering  a  tariff  schedule,  or  the  govern- 
ment of  a  railroad,  or  debating  municipal  franchises.  Man  is 
not  a  modern  sea-going  liner  with  separate  water  tight  compart- 
ments with  bulk  heads  separating  each  section.  His  political  acts, 
like  his  interests,  must  of  necessity  run  together  and  interplay, 
one  affecting  and  deterring  the  other. 

The  man  ambitious  to  secure  legislation  or  public  honors  in 
state  or  nation  must  appeal  to  the  same  men  who  run  the  city. 
The  men  who  seek  to  control  city  affairs,  to  determine  its  policy, 
or  secure  its  honors  must  appeal  to  the  same  men  who  man- 
age and  conduct  the  agencies  that  prevail  in  state  and  national 
affairs. 

Will  public  service  corporations  that  manage  our  city  rail- 
ways, our  telephones  and  telegraphs,  our  water  system,  our  heat- 
ing and  lighting  plants  cease  to  covet  gain,  cease  to  look  with 
designing  eyes  on  the  city  council,  cease  to  scrutinize  the  or- 
dinances and  care  not  about  the  character  of  the  men  who  will 
enforce  the  regulations  affecting  the  conduct  and  dividends? 
Will  the  men  interested  in  the  sale  of  wine  and  beer  and  the 
people  of  their  saloons,  will  the  keeper  of  dives  and  gambling 
dens  become  converted  and  join  the  church  and  cease  to  trouble 
our  souls  and  harass  not  the  police  or  surround  them? 

Some  of  the  expectations  of  our  city  reformers  regarding 
non-partizan  government  make  one  think  that  many  of  our  hard- 
headed  business  men  are  suffering  from  softening  of  the  brain 
or  confusion  of  their  minds. 

The  evils  we  complain  of  can  be  reduced  and  curbed,  but  not 
by  the  Galveston  system. 


FACTS  CONCERNING  COMMISSION 
PLAN 


The  following  data  includes  investigations  up  to  August  ist, 
1909.  With  few  exceptions,  the  information  has  been  secured 
directly  from  the  various  Secretaries  of  State.  In  cases  where  no 
responses  have  been  received,  information,  where  the  authenticity 
is  unquestioned,  has  been  used. 

States  Providing  for  Commission  Plan 

California  New  Mexico  (Terr.) 

Colorado  North  Dakota 

Idaho  .  Oklahoma 

Iowa  Oregon 

Kansas  South  Dakota 

Massachusetts  ,  Tennessee 

Michigan  Texas 

Minnesota  Washington 

Mississippi  Wisconsin 

Cities  That  Have  Adopted  the  Commission  Plan  of  Government 

Ardmore,  Okla.  Dallas,  Tex. 

Austin,  Tex.  Denison,  Tex. 

Berkeley,  Calif.  Des  Moines,  la. 

Bismarck,  North  Dakota.  El  Paso,  Tex. 

Boise,  Idaho.  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Cedar  Rapids,  la.  Galveston,  Tex. 

Chelsea,  Mass.  Gloucester,  Mass. 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo.  Greenville,  Tex. 

t    Corpus  Christi,  Tex.  Haverhill,  Mass. 


i68 


MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


Houston,  Tex. 
Hutchinson,  Kans. 
Independence,  Kans. 
Kansas  City,  Kans. 
Keokuk,  la. 
Leavenworth,  Kans. 
Lewiston,  Idaho. 
Mandan.  North  Dakota. 
Marshall,  Tex. 


Memphis,  Tenn. 
Minot,  North  Dakota. 
Palestine,  Tex. 
— Rrosewetl,  "New  Mex.  ( Terr. ) 
San  Diego,  Calif. 
Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota. 
Tulsa,  Okla. 
Waco,  Tex. 
Wichita.  Kans. 


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